


Uranohoshi School of Magic

by Epyon



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Does not strictly follow Harry Potter, Drama, F/F, Friendship, Magic, My made up spells, Romance, Saint Snow won't show up till later, School Life, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-08-18
Packaged: 2019-04-23 17:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 58
Words: 131,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14337705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epyon/pseuds/Epyon
Summary: The Tsushima’s were known to study dark magic. Though they were misunderstood because most people assume it is associated with evil when in truth it’s just tough to master. Yoshiko had almost no friends due to this but doesn’t let it bother her as she was busy finding a way to master it without becoming evil herself. When she meets a Riko and makes new friends at school, will she be able to find a way to master dark magic or will her pursuit of it consume her?





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally a Yoshimaru guy then converted to YohaRiko as their dynamic kind of grew on me to the point where I live by the YohaRiko. Season 2 added more stuff to the ship. It also helped that Aikyan and Rikyako interactions with each other are to die for and the fact that Rikyako mentioned that this is her ship so yeah.
> 
> I want to apologize if this work sounds familiar to something others have already posted. I drew some inspiration from other works I've read.

It was an early September morning, the temperature was warm, leaves were falling, and streets were filled with civilians on their way to whatever establishment they were meant to go to. Yoshiko was walking to the train station with her mother and she was excited. She was going to go to Uranohoshi School of Magic after being accepted, much to her surprise. It was no secret in the world of magic that her mom and her were researched dark magic and even used them. There was a divide among the community about is it wise to do such a thing knowing the consequences. There have been those who studied it who became corrupted and turned evil. Others have died through such pursuits. Yet, there are some who believe that if a breakthrough can be made than dark magic should be able to be used regularly like other magic without fear of corruption. The Tsushima’s were part of the latter.

Yoshiko’s mom graduated from a different magic school and continued her pursuits with dark magic. There was some progress, but mostly failures. Once she had Yoshiko, she decided to put it on hold and worked an office job to get money to take care of Yoshiko. Yoshiko was naturally attracted to her mom’s research and she decided to let Yoshiko help her out and homeschooled her about the progress of dark magic. Of course she went to regular school, but she didn’t have many friends outside of one brown haired girl that she would come home and talk about from time to time. Ultimately Yoshiko was alone and only interacted when she needed to. Her mom decided to teach her stuff schools wouldn’t and Yoshiko became pretty adept at fighting against dark magic as she continued to learn.

The sounds of chugging and whistles can be heard as they arrived at the train station. Yoshiko was carrying her stuff as her mother searched for the platform that she needed to go to.

“Alright Yoshiko, theres the platform we’re looking for. Let’s go!”

She followed her mother to the pillar that reads 8 3/4. Huh, that’s an interesting coincidence she thought. Eight was considered a lucky number in Japan and Yoshiko for one was not lucky. There is always a chance of something wrong happening to her and she wouldn’t be surprised if she ran into the pillar just for it to be a regular pillar and not the way to her train. But she had her mother with her so she went through without any hesitation. On the other side was a much busier train station than the one from before. There were people running everywhere and birds of all kinds flying everywhere. It was an amazing scene even for someone who is a bit socially awkward as Yoshiko. She was hoping she could meet fellow students that viewed dark magic the same as her and share what their research has resulted in. She just couldn’t contain her excitement as she stared in awe and shivered with joy.

“Well dear, it’s time for you to embark on your own adventure”, her mother stated. They hugged for a while,

“Thank you for being my pillar of support through all of this mom. I’ll continue to work on figuring out on how to master dark magic as I’m sure you will too”, Yoshiko said in a soft tone trying to not cry.

 After a few more moments, Yoshiko boarded the train after one final farewell and with a hoot, the train finally took off. When Yoshiko’s mom saw the train disappear, she turned around and noticed a cute dark red haired woman, who looks her age sitting on a bench wiping her tears with a tissue. With her Tsushima women’s charm, she walked over and greeted the women;

“Hello, must be tough to see your kid off to a magic school huh?” The red haired women looked up and replied,

“Sure is, my daughter was always with me and now she is off on her own. I’m sure she’ll be fine because she’s smart and capable but I still can’t help but worry.” Yoshiko’s mom nodded her head in agreement and said the same of her own daughter, which to the red heads delight lessened her worry.

“I hope our daughters become friends then. I’m sure they’ll get along well.”, the red head stated.

“Hmmm… maybe, my daughter is a bit awkward around people since she rarely had people to share her interests with. But yeah, I hope they meet and become good friends.” After a while, they got up and started to exit the station.  

“May I treat you to some coffee and maybe breakfast Ms.?”

“Sakurauchi, Sakurauchi Rika. May I ask yours?”

“Tsushima Aika, at your service my maiden”. Rika blushed, surprised at how forward and oddly charming this stranger was.

“Well Ms.Tsushima, it would be my honor to join you for breakfast.

On the train Yoshiko found an empty booth and decided to occupy it. She could have chosen other booths but did not want to go through the trouble of asking if she could join, so an empty booth it is. Feels rather comfortable and familiar she thought as it reminded her a bit of her childhood where she would be off doing her own things by herself away from other people. “Excuse me.” Yoshiko wondered what school life would be like, especially one that doesn’t seem to oppose dark magic. “Excuse me” Of course they had to know about her and her mom, so if they accepted her, it could only mean that they don’t reject her pursuits. “Excuse me. Umm hello?” Yoshiko was so deep in thought she just now realized someone was talking to her. She turned around and what graced her eyes was a taller girl, deep golden eyes, red wine colored hair, a small hairpin with some hair swept to the side, and another pin on the back. She was wearing a light pink one piece dress with some flower patterns around the waist area. Yoshiko was bewitched by how pretty she was, she almost didn’t hear what she was saying. “May I sit here with you”, she asked shyly. “U-u-umm, yeah sure, I don’t mind at all”, Yoshiko replied in nervousness.

“My name is Sakurauchi Riko, may I ask what yours is?”, the red head said.

Yoshiko was a bit perplexed at why someone would choose to sit with her, out of all the booths, why me? Does she share interests with me? Does she simply have nowhere else to sit? Maybe it was a dare? Ah, a lightbulb went off in Yoshiko’s head and her nervousness she displayed before vanished, What replaced it was a confidant look, as she placed her hand on her head and responded in a low pitch,

“Kukuku, for a person like you to sit with a being as great as myself. Tell me little demon, what was it about the great Yohane that made you sit with me? My beauty? My grace? Or mayhaps its this raw power that lays dormant in this vessel ready to awaken and have the world worship me?”

She looked over at the red head and noticed she just stared at her with her mouth slightly open, at a loss at what to say.

“Ummmm yeah, so maybe I should umm go find somewhere..”

“No no no!!! I mean my name is Tsushima Yoshiko and ummmm please, you are welcome to sit here.” Yoshiko said panicky hoping to not lose out on making her first friend.

“Well ok, but what was that just now”, Riko asked.

“Its Yohane. That’s the me that shows up when I am nervous and need to recompose myself and my confidence.”

Ah, she was a chuuni Riko thought to herself, well guess she doesn’t mean any harm or anything. She’s just weird that’s all.

“Thank you; I honestly didn’t know where to sit with so many booths already occupied. And you were the only one in this one so I thought it would be easier for me to join in.” Riko sat down in the seat across from Yoshiko, putting her backpack next to her.

Yoshiko laughed quietly with an embarrassed look, “The same could be said for me, I wanted to join the others but found myself gravitating to an empty one”. Yoshiko looked up and smiled and Riko returned it. Some time has passed and they did not really speak much, showing that they are still a bit awkward when talking to people and each other. The silence was killing Yoshiko on the inside. ‘C’mon, this is my chance to make a friend and a pretty one at that.’ The internal struggle of not knowing how to make friends tormented her, as she desperately tried to think of a conversation starter. Yoshiko looked over and noticed that Riko was reading a book. Hmmm, looks like some book about music. “So you like music?”, Yoshiko asked.

“Yeah, I play piano”

“Cool”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I don’t play instruments. I’m more of a researcher myself”

“A scholar are we?”

“Hehe I wouldn’t say that”

Yoshiko didn’t know what to say after that and decided to let Riko go back to reading. ‘Oh well, I guess I shouldn’t distract her from what she was reading’, resigned at the fact that her opportunity to hold a conversation was gone. What she didn’t know was that the book was a façade. The cover was a fake. The real content of what she was reading was a yuri doujin that she recently bought. Kabedon, Agokui, some back hugs, all you can imagine that’s in a doujin. In fact, Riko made sure to bring some with her and then bring the rest once she figures out her rooming situation at the school. This is the stuff Riko lives for. Some nice girl on girl action, feelings of love, spending time together, all for it to come to the big event of confessions, it makes her jump in joy when it gets to the juicy parts.

“Hey, you’re looking a bit excited over there. Is it really that good?”

“Huh? Oh no no its nothing really.” Through Riko frantically trying to deny what was going on, her grip loosened on her doujin. Then her doujin slipped out of the fake over and fell on the floor. There it was her treasure, exposed in full glory, and on an action scene to boot, all for Yoshiko to see.

“Ummm that’s some interesting music you’re uhh reading.” Yoshiko said.

“Awawa i-i-i-it its its” Riko quickly picked the book up and placed it back in the cover. Riko just sat there staring at the floor in embarrassment thinking that its over for her.

“Hoh? It would seem this little demon has a bit more then she lets on. Yohane can’t be having that. Tell me, what secrets does thou harbor that others shouldn’t know. It is imperative that the master should know everything about her little demon.” Yoshiko slowly moved over and moved Riko’s hands away, revealing her face. Yoshiko leaned in close like predator to a prey and that only made Riko burn in even more embarrassment before she finally broke and pushed Yoshiko away. She ended up hitting her head on the wall and Riko panicked realizing what she just did. She continually apologized while she trying to help Yoshiko up and made sure she wasn’t hurt. The rest of the ride there was just awkward silence after that incident, both not knowing what to say after what just occurred. When the view of the school was within range, Riko remarked” We should, maybe get changed into our robes for school.” To which, Yoshiko replied “Yeah, you’re right”. Hopefully whatever awaits the two would be a bit less embarrassing than what just happened on the train.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 is a lucky number in Japan
> 
> I’m making this where the 1st years and 2nd years are in the same school year
> 
> The 3rd years will be one year ahead of them. Just go with it on this one
> 
> Not really sure how long this will go, it’ll prob only cover their 1st year at Uranohoshi but the fic is still in planning
> 
> μ’s to come later, maybe A-RISE too
> 
> Mix of different magic AUs like Harry Potter & Little Witch Academia
> 
> Any critique is welcome so I can fix and improve on this and possibly future fanfics as its my first time writing a fanfic and I’m nervous


	2. The Sorting

Arriving at the school, Yoshiko and Riko got their belongings and headed towards the entrance. As they walked to the front entrance of the school they had a conversation which would result in some bickering about the difference between romance novels and lewd ones and how Yoshiko maintained her side hair bun. It was rather calming as the two were able to converse regularly for the first time. The entrance had large over arching gate with statues of (walrus’?) on both sides. Then came the front courtyard where there are pathways that led to a fountain in the middle and the main path that leads to a castle like structure that is their school. At the front doors there was a professor that was telling all first years to stay outside while all the others can come in. So as students continued to file in, Yoshiko and Riko were off to the side talking.

“Why are they making us wait outside?”

“I don’t know, it would make more sense for us to be inside. This sun is killing me and the weather is still too hot for my liking as a fallen angel. Why is it hotter here when back home it was cooler?”

“Seriously, why do you talk like you are a fallen angel?”

“We live with magic, so fallen angels are real.”

“By the way, I thought of something.”

“What is it?” Riko wondered what the so called fallen angel could’ve thought of now.

“If you are going to be my elite little demon, you’ll need a cool name. Something that screams I’m cooler than you. So I thought your nickname shall be Riri. It’s a really cool name if I do say so myself. Be grateful that the great Yohane has bestowed you with such an honor and title.”

“Ummm how about no, I’d rather be normal and plain then have something like that.”

“Hmhm, seems like you still don’t know the true power of the fallen angel, but don’t worry you’ll come around soon. And when you do, I Yohane shall welcome you to this Hell Zone and we shall conquer the world together with our legion of little demons.”

“Wait? Legion?”

“I’ll recruit while I’m here”

“Right, good luck with that…..Hey don’t tell anybody about, you know.”

“I don’t see why you’re so worried. There’s nothing wrong with reading that genre. People should be friends with you for you not what you read. They have no business being friends with you if that turns them away from you.”

“Wow, that’s.. very mature of you.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Nothing.” Riko smirked at Yoshiko finding some joy in teasing her.

While they were bickering a brown haired girl was a couple feet behind them and she was staring at the blue haired girl with a side bun, as if trying to remember if she knows someone with such features.

“What wrong Hanamaru-chan?” The cute little pink haired twin pig-tailed girl next to her asked.

“That person seems familiar to me, zura.” They walked closer and then a realization donned on Hanamaru.

 Riko soon noticed the two girls walking up to them and stopped Yoshiko from continuing on with her rants. She asked Yoshiko if she knows the two girls coming up to them. Yoshiko wasn’t sure what Riko meant so she turned around. “Gek!!”

“Yoshiko-chan!! Its really you!! Its been so long zura~. The brown haired girl squealed in excitement as she finally met her friend from way back when.

“Zu zu Zuramaru!! You go here too?!!” Yoshiko asked in bewilderment. “And its Yohane!!”

  “Yep, I’m a first year and I guess since you’re outside too then you are one too! Hey who is that with you?”

“She is my elite little demon Riri. She is very devoted to serving the great Yohane!”

Riko punched Yoshiko’s arm. Yoshiko moved to the side grimacing in pain.

“My name is Sakurauchi Riko, I met Yoshiko on the train ride here and got to know her a bit.”

“Ah, Kunikida Hanamaru, I met Yoshiko-chan back in elementary school, but we got separated when I ended up enrolling in a different school. It wasn’t even a year before that happened.”

“Its YOHANE!!”

“Oh yeah, this is Kurosawa Ruby, and she is a close friend. Her older sister goes here also.”

“N-nice to meet you.” Ruby meekly greeted the two girls in front of her.

The four girls continued their greetings and conversations. What became known was: Ruby’s sister, Dia, is a year ahead of them. Dia hungout with her childhood friends Kanan and Mari who were also in the same year as her. Hanamaru was well versed in literature and is a bit perceptive of things. She lived in a temple and knew spells to keep evil spirits away. While conversing, they saw two other girls approaching their way with bright smiles and eyes filled with energy. One had orange hair with a green hairclip and some hair on her left side braided. The other was a gray haired girl, who was also wearing a sailor’s cap for some reason.

“Hello everyone! Do you mind if we join in this party y’all are having?”, The orange haired girl asked.

“And who might you two be? Does anyone know them?” Riko asked the other three girls with her. They shook their heads and said no in unison.

“Right. My name is Takami Chika. First year just like y’all.”

“Yousoro! The names Watanabe Yo. First year and sailor extraordinaire.”

“That explains the cap. You must be one capable human to dare navigate the waters of Leviathan. Or maybe you’ve ran into trouble with the likes of Scylla or sirens that tried to eat your soul.” Yoshiko went on talking about things that flew over Yo’s head.

“Ummm I’m not sure? I just sail boats near my hometown, I haven’t really went that far into the sea yet.” Yo answered a bit perplexed at what the blue haired girl was trying to say.

“Hmmm, I see you haven’t reached your true potential yet. But fear not, if you become my little demon, then you shall amass great knowledge and power to where no aquatic being will dare cross your path. You can rule the ocean and.. oooff!!” Yoshiko spouted being tag teamed by Riko and Hanamaru as they both elbow her.

“Sorry for Yoshiko-chan’s random babbles. She does that from time to time, but she means no harm.” Hanamaru apologized to the two new girls. After an introduction from everyone they all heard the calls of one of the professor’s. They said that all the first years can come into the main front hall and there will be an announcement about what will happen next. As they were walking, they noticed Yoshiko snicker and whisper to herself, “To think, just the first day of school and I’ve already have 5 little demons under me. My beauty and power knows no bound”. They just gave an awkward laugh and smile and decided to let her continue with her delusions. When they stopped there was a woman with long violent hair standing at the stairway waiting for them.

“Welcome 1st years, I’m the Deputy Headmistress of this institute Toudou Erena. I’m sure you are all excited for your enrollment but before you can get settle, we must first decide which of the 3 houses you are to be assigned to. With that please follow me to the main dining hall.”  There was a stoic and cool aura emitting from her that caught the students in awe. It wasn’t until she stopped and looked back before they actually processed what she said and started to follow her.

Across the different magic schools in the world, they all had different houses, think sororities and fraternities, which students are assigned to. This will be the main people they’ll be living around as they study at the magic schools. The number of houses varies among them. Uranohoshi has three; Cyaron which is symbolized by a seal, Azalea which is symbolized by a dolphin, and Guilty Kiss which is symbolized by the sea otter. Cyaron’s house colors are dark pink and orange, Azalea’s are green and white, and Guilty Kiss’ are black and purple. Cyaron were known to be the more energetic and forward types. Azalea were the more intellectual types. Guilty Kiss were the more mischievous, edgy, weird types. When the first years walked in, they saw all the returning students each sitting with the members of their houses. Cyarons on the left, Azaleas in the middle tables, and Guilty Kiss’ on the right. Riko can’t help but notice the Guilty Kiss students, some look like delinquents, some punk rockish girls, some goth, some of those fashionable girls that you see talk about things not school related, misfits, etc. She really did not want to be in that crowd. She’s just a plain ordinary girl, who has a healthy interest in yuri that’s all. Nothing weird with that that would warrant her being in Guilty Kiss. Azalea feels more like her group since she is a good student. Ruby meanwhile, saw her older sister Dia sitting with Kanan at the Azalea tables, she was waving at her and telling her to be strong. Ruby replied with her signature “Ganbaruby” move reassuring her older sister.

Once the last bit of 1st years arrived, the doors closed and the headmistress of the school stood up. “Welcome back to another year of adventure and intrigue returning students, and welcome to all the 1st years that are joining us on this journey. My name is Tsubasa Kira, Headmistress of this school. As you all know, you have been accepted into our school because of the talent and potential we see in you. We hope you have the full experience and enjoy your time at our school and everything it has to offer. Before I continue, let us get the main attraction of the commencement out of the way shall we. Deputy Headmistress Yuuki if you may.”

“Yes maam, hello 1st years, I’m one of the Deputy Headmistresses here, Yuuki Anjou. Welcome to Uranohoshi. Now, this commencement lunch-in is to celebrate the beginning of the school year but, the main event is the “Sorting”, where the Sorting Hat will decide which house you will be living in. Please don’t be afraid of her as she is only doing her job”

“Hello dearies, I’m the Sorting Hat and it’ll be a pleasure for me to decide your housing fates for your first step into your journey here”. All the 1st years were staring at the talking hat, looking at it in awe. “You all are making me blush, I know I am amazing and I never am wrong when deciding your housing, but come on, we all have things to do. You can admire me later.”

Anjou began by calling the names of the students in no particular order. One by one they walked up to the seat and with the hat placed on top of them, their houses were decided. Some were overjoyed, some were a bit confused, while others were sad that they weren’t placed in the house that their friends were in. “Kurosawa Ruby”.

“PIGIIII!!” Ruby squealed, surely she wasn’t ready to be the first of her circle of friends called up. She slowly walked up to the chair hoping she gets placed in Azalea with Dia. It would make her comfortable and she can have someone to rely on if she finds trouble. Dia is quietly mumbling things and Kanan looked at her with a relaxed look and patted Dia’s shoulder, assuring her that things will be fine.  The hat was now on Ruby’s head.

“Hmmmm, interesting, another Kurosawa. Your sister was a fiery one last year during this. Yes, I see some timidness, a little clumsy, but strong determination. When its something you’re passionate about you really go through all the stops don’t you. Yes, your house shall be……” Ruby closed her eyes and held her breath. Dia gulped in anticipation. Why so much drama for housing?

“Cyaron”

“Eh?” Ruby was a bit confused. “I wanted to be with my sister” she exclaimed.

“Trust me dear, Cyaron fits you more.”

“BU BU~ DESU WA!!!” Dia yelled out surprising people in the room. The hat sighed as the incident with Dia is happening again.

“My sister belongs with me here in Azalea. Its proven fact that sister’s should be together.”

“You know I’m never wrong with my placements. Look at last year. It worked out well did it not” the Hat explained.

“My adorable little sister must be with me.” Dia was frustrated at the results; she continued to think of ways to get Ruby over to Azalea knowing that changing houses never happened. They went back and forth while the students watched. Then Kira spoke up;

“Listen Kurosawa-san, I understand your love for your sister but just because she is placed in a different house doesn’t mean that is who she’ll be defined as. How she grows is up to her and she can freely meet you anytime. The point of the housing is to help people build connections with other people and grow together with people who the Sorting Hat believes fit that person best.”

“Hmmm alright, but how about we trade? Kanan for Ruby.” Kanan gave Dia a glare that read “Are you seriously suggesting me as a trading chip for Ruby?” Dia looked back at her with puppy dogs eyes with a look that says “But my precious Ruby”. This happened last year when Mari was placed in Guilty Kiss, different from Kanan and Dia. Dia continually argued that Mari should be with them but to no avail.

“No trades Kurosawa-san.” The headmistress stated. Dia quietly sat down in defeat. She mumbled to herself “I’m sorry Ruby, this onee-chan of yours failed to keep you safe.” The hat gave a tired sigh before the Headmistress motioned for the Sorting to begin again. “Kunikida Hanamaru”

“Interesting, seems like you have vast knowledge in this head of yours. A result from being well-versed in literature I presume. A shrine maiden? Interesting indeed. You better not eat all the bread like a certain orange haired chef we have. The “hana” in your name means flower, which means you will fit best in Azalea” Cheers can be heard with nods of acknowledgment from her fellow “scholars” in house Azalea. “Next is, Takami Chika.”

“Wow, aren’t you a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. You don’t seem to do anything too well but you try your best to improve each day. This is something that can be contagious. You shall be placed in Cyaron”. An excited yell from Chika flung the hat off as she ran over to Ruby and sat next to her. The rest of the Cyaron house returned her energy with cheers of their own. Ruby sighed in relief knowing that she had someone she knew, even if they just met, in the same house as her. Nothing could be worse than Ruby being alone despite the residents os Cyaron looking like the nicest down to earth people in the world. “Next is, Watanabe Yo”

“Yousoro~, nice to meet you.”

“Hmph, you better not fling me off like the last girl did with your energy. For a second there, I thought a stitching tore or something.”

“Yes maam”

“Ok, ok…. Your full of energy yourself. Proficient in the sea huh? Similar to Matsuura if I remember correctly. Yes well you better make Yousoro the official greeting of house Cyaron, because that’s your house. Yousoro~”

“Aye Aye captain” Yo gave a salute and put the hat back gently. Then she ran over to Chika and Ruby and hugged them before sitting down. “Tsushima Yoshiko”.

“Its finally time for the almighty Yohane to make her debut, ah this power of mine shall make people fall for me and dedicate their lives for their mistress.” Yoshiko walked up confidently with her hand on her head snickering. It was safe to say she garnered the attention of the school and the teachers all looked at her in interest for more than one reason.

“Oh I guess you should already know where you’re going if you are so high and mighty O-great one.” The hat had a bit of a sarcastic tone in it.

“Of course this is nothing but a trife. Someone like me can only belong in the house that houses the denizens of darkness. Those whose are rejected by society but continue to live with vigor to show those beings who rejected them that they are wrong.”

“Yes, yes whatever you say. Now, I sense some great ability in you. Hmm? 2? 2 what? Strange indeed. Hoh, you dabble in dark magic do you. Be careful young one or you could cause harm to others and also yourself. Despite that you really do have potential to be something special. Now go, your house is Guilty Kiss.”

“Hmph but of course.” Yoshiko smirked and proudly walked over to the Guilty Kiss side of the room and was meant with a unified “Huzzah” from the members. On the inside Yoshiko was brimming with joy, not only did she show off her presumed coolness in front of everybody, but she seem to be accepted by her now fellow housemates. As she walked pass the proud looks and friendly greetings of the Guilty Kiss girls, one in particular caught her attention. She was a bodacious blond who was staring really hard at her and waved nonstop.

“Ciaooo~, my names Ohara Mari, have a seat right here, she pointed to the open seat in front of her. Yoshiko obliged and sat down. “Sooooo Yoshikocchi”. Yoshikocchi, Yoshiko wondered. “That was some interesting stuff you said up there. You are pretty and have a little bit of an edgy side, magnifico.”

“Thanks Ohara-senpai, I guess.”

“No no~, just call me Mari. I don’t like formalities.” 

“Finally, Sakurauchi Riko” Riko walked up determined to get put in a house other than Guilty Kiss.

“A musician and a sorceress, how wonderful. You seem to be a pretty normal person with very good grades and abilities…. But what is this? Oh that’s not what I would call a normal person. You seem to have more then you let on. And looking at the demographic of this school..well will you be alright? Its clear where you will be….. Guilty Kiss.” Riko had a blank stare on her face. “Eh” she said, asking the hat to repeat what it said.

“Guily Kiss” the hat repeated.

“Really?”

“Yep”

“Umm I don’t think I fit in with them, just you know look at them.”

“You’re not bad looking yourself sweetie!”, a random girl from Guilty Kiss hollered and being joined in by her fellow members in throwing compliments at Riko.

“See? They like you. Now if you would excuse me, I have a long nap planned and don’t want to miss it.” The hat then flew off of Riko’s head and out of the main dining hall. Riko then walked defeatedly over to Guilty Kiss’ side and found Yoshiko staring at her with gusto and patted the seat next to her. Riko had no option but sat next to her.

“Don’t worry Riri, with me and my new little demon Mari, we’ll make sure you are comfortable here.”

“Si!, Just let me take care of things if you need any help. By the way are you two a thing? Riri is a cute nickname you have there?” The question was a huge shock to both girls. They stuttered and turned red quick. Mari could only watch in amusement as her underclassmen struggle to answer. How cute they are, this will be a really fun, she thought to herself.

“No. No. Riri is my elite little demon, who just has a high standing compared to others.”

“I just met this fallen angel oddball, theres no way there is something like that between us.”

“Ohhh, but it sounds like you two are more than just friends from your answers just now, and your bickering from earlier today doesn’t help.”

“Huh?”, both Yoshiko and Riko responded.

“Some of us saw you two come in together and saw you two argue like a couple. So we just thought that.. you know” she pointed in the direction of some other girls. They had some smug looks and there were even some blushing with expectant eyes like they were waiting for a confirmation of a relationship. The two girls in question grew even redder. Before any more embarrassment came the headmistress stood up and spoke.

“With the “Sorting” complete, I now officially welcome all the 1st years here. As you know the houses you are assigned to will be the people you live with for your time here. Be proud of where you are and strive to bring great success to them and yourself. Of course, with that you should also know that every year the House Cup is rewarded to the most outstanding house of the year. You get points for not only academic achievement, but through competitions, and service to the school. I would like to congratulate Guilty Kiss for winning it all last year.” A loud unified roar erupted from Guilty Kiss, much to Riko’s surprise. They seem like just random people thrown together but, I guess that’s what brings them together, she thought. “I would also like to thank the Ohara’s for helping us fix up part of the campus after what happened last year.” There was a quizzical look among the 1st years, while the upperclassmen all laughed. The incident in question was a match between Dia, Mari, and Kanan that got way too competitive and way out of hand that resulted in a part of the campus being destroyed. “Enjoy the feast and the next two days off. We make you come here early to let you get accustomed to campus and get the things you need and also to get your rooms sorted out. Classes will begin Monday, so expect your schedules mailed to you sometime by then. With that I wish you all the best and enjoy.” With that the hall erupted in chatter and sounds of food being devoured. All the girls talked with the people within their houses with some occasional mixing of the other houses. Yoshiko was ecstatic to find some girls who had interest in dark magic. Though some were new to it, it was good that they had an open mind. Riko mainly talked with Mari and when Mari went over to Azalea to chat, she kept to herself and only greeted other people.

Once the lunch was over, the nine girls congregated to one of the side gardens and sat on the benches. Kanan, Dia, and Mari introduced themselves to the other girls who did not know them. A nice conversation came after as they all talked about their hobbies, what they were looking to get out of school, potential clubs to join, etc. Time flew by as they talked and got to know each other. This really alleviated any stress Riko had as she now has 8 friends she can rely on. Yoshiko could not believe her luck. She has a group of friends she can comfortably talk to and the girls in her house were friendly with her. She could not have imagined a better start to school.

“Tsushima-san?”

“Its YOHANE!!”

“I don’t’ think so Tsushima-san” Dia glared a bit a Yoshiko and she decided to avoid any problems for now.

“Ok, just Yoshiko is fine.”

“Yoshiko-san, I hear you study and use dark magic.” This got everyone’s attention as they listened in.

 “I do, my mom and I are rather proud of it.”

“Well, I know you are trying to find ways to use it for good, but the fact that it can corrupt and cause harm is still there. Try to keep it under control and not to cause harm to my sister.”

“Pah, don’t worry, the plights of mine is mine alone. I’d rather not get my little demons caught up in my research as to keep them from undue harm.”

“Well if you are careful then I’ll leave it at that. Plus if you are good with defense against it as I’ve heard about, then I would like to spar with you sometime. Not now but sometime down the line.” Dia said that last line with confidence like she knows the results of said duel.

“I’d be happy to oblige, just don’t be too down when I win.” Yoshiko responded with just as much confidence.

“I don’t see whats wrong with Yoshiko-chan using dark magic. I mean look at her, she looks like she has everything under control if she’s been studying it with her mom all this time”, Chika exclaimed.

“Its not that simple.” Kanan retorted.

“Yeah Chika, I don’t know too much about it, but even if she can use it well, it doesn’t mean that the corruption won’t work on her.” Yo added in.

“Its still an interesting topic as to why the corruption spreads to the user. They still don’t know what prevents the corruption as many have tried to experiment with different uses of it with different countermeasures. And yet, they still become corrupted and turn evil. Whether it has something to do with the persons heart or soul, nobody really knows. It baffles even the greatest minds who’ve studied it. Because of that, many people are pushing for the research of it to stop otherwise more harm will be done. I’m sure Yoshiko-chan is just trying to find a way to make good use of it and she’s never harmed me when we were in the same grade before.” Hanamaru stated.

“Wow Hanamaru-chan, you sure know a lot.” Ruby said with admiration.

“Its just things I pick up from books. You’re really smart too Ruby-chan.” She smiles at Ruby which causes her to blush and avoid eye contact.

“Wait does the dark magic have anything to do with your fallen angel persona?” Riko asked wanting to know an answer.

“Yohane was there for as long as I remember. So she came first.” Yoshiko said with pride.

“I don’t think that’s something you should say with pride” Yo retorted and the rest nodded with agreement.

“The real question is, where are yalls rooms gonna be~?” Mari asked jubilantly.

The thought just know donned in their heads. Everyone was thinking about it while the 2nd years already knew where they are rooming so it doesn’t require much thought.

“Oh no, what if we can’t find a room and become homeless” Chika said.

“Don’t worry Chika, if theres a boat then the both of us can live in it.” Yo said giving Chika a thumbs up. Chika smiled and hugged Yo, knowing that with Yo, surviving the wilderness is never a problem.. probably. Ruby had hoped to live with either Dia or Hanamaru, but since she’s in a different house that’s impossible. She started to tear up a bit and Dia quickly went into action and appeared next to Ruby in the flash of an eye, stroking Ruby’s head to calm her down.

“Aren’t yall kinda over thinking this. There are more than enough rooms for all the students, otherwise they would not have accepted so many.” Kanan reassured the younger girls.

“Well I already planned for this so, Ruby will be in the room that is closest to ours so it won’t be that much of a distance between us. It also happens to be a 3 person room so Chika-san and Yo-san can join.” Dia exclaimed proudly as only an onee-san can.

“Hanamaru can actually live in the room next to ours. It’s a little smaller than the others but there are plenty of bookshelves there for you to use from the previous person who lived there.” Kanan added.

“Zuraaaa~, my on mini library. Its truly the futuuuure zuraaa~.”

“What about us?” Yoshiko and Riko asked in unison.

“No problem, theres a room right in front of mine that you can use. It’s pretty roomy from what I recall.” Mari gave them a thumbs up and a wink. The two girls sighed in relief, what’s pressing is that Riko now is living with Yoshiko and she doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing knowing what she knows about her. At least its better then moving in with someone she doesn’t know. A single room wouldn’t be so bad either. She decided to just bear with the randomness of Yoshiko as long as she doesn’t blow something up in their room. With everything settled. All the girls got up and went their separate ways to have a look at their dorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up with room designs is tough
> 
> I’m also researching spells but might ultimately decide on using random spell names I come up with or see from other anime. “ThunderBolt!!” or something like that lol.
> 
> Technically based on what Dia said, one end of the Cyaron dorms and one end of the Azalea dorms are close to each other. The dorms are separate from the main school buildings.
> 
> I did my best to come up with the mascot and colors for the houses. I originally planned to go with the four houses of Hogwarts but changed it to the three Sub-units as its easier to keep track of things for me.
> 
> Apologies if inconsistencies pop up


	3. Moving In

The Guilty Kiss trio walked down the hallway of their dorm and turned the corner as they reach an intersection. They walked down to the far end and Yoshiko noticed that there were few doors on one side. The hallways were nice, decorated in some Victorian like adornments, pictures of legends and greats in history, a deep purple carpet, chandeliers, some candle stand, etc.  They soon arrive at the door that was to be their dorm. Mari pointed at the door slightly diagonal from theirs and stated that that was her room and if they need anything, just come and knock anytime.

“So how do we decide who gets which room?” Riko asked Yoshiko.

 “Decide?” Mari asked confused.

“Yeah,since theres two bedrooms, I wonder how we decide who gets what since the room size and their proximity to the other areas of the room are could be different”.

 “I never said this room had 2 bedrooms.”

 “WHA!!?!??” Riko was shocked and froze on the spot. Riko’s mind went wild in thought; wait, one bedroom, 2 girls, don’t tell me we’re sleeping in the same room. And the same bed? Nononono, calm down, theres probably 2 beds in the room so…”

“Yep you two will be sleeping together in the same bed since this was a one person room originally.” Riko almost fainted, her heart couldn’t handle what was happening. Yoshiko held Riko to steady her as it looked like she was gonna collapse. Yoshiko was playing it cool, but deep down she was burning up with the prospect of possibly sleeping together with Riko. Okay, this is definitely taking getting to know someone to a whole new level.

“Its joke!” Mari said with a big smile and stuck her tongue out, proud at the joke she just pulled. Yoshiko looked at her in shock, while Riko looked like she wanted to kill Mari. Once everyone calmed down, Mari unlocked the door and they walked into the room. They were greeted with a pretty sizable living room. It was shared with the dining room as there was a medium sized dining table and four chairs to the right. The kitchen was connected to the room and there was a counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room with some stools. There was also a pantry closet to store things in. The living room had a couch, some single sofa chairs, there were footrests placed in the corner, a fireplace, and there was even a sliding door that leads to the balcony. The balcony had a view of a flower garden and farther away was the woods with some animals roaming around. The balcony also had a tea table with two chairs. A little further in there was a doorway that led to a small central room. The central room had doors on all sides. The left and right doors led to the bedrooms. The door in front led to the bathroom. Opposite the bathroom were two doors. One was another closet for storage and another was the laundry room. The two bedrooms were pretty much similar. The size of the rooms was the same and the beds and closets were the same size. They also came with a wardrobe, study table and a chair. The difference was that one room had 3 windows while the other had 2. Interestingly the bedroom with two windows also had a chest which was to Yoshiko’s liking so she immediately claimed it claiming its to store her fallen angel items.

“Well, what do you think?” Mari asked.

“It’s really nice and there’s also room in the corner of the living room, so I think I might get a piano for it.” Riko was pleased by the size of the room and it had basically everything for living.

“It’s perfect. There’s room for me to do all kinds of rituals and work my stuff as a fallen angel.”

“I’m glad, I had to get some stuff redone to make it comfortable. Also, just tell me what piano you want and I can get it here by tomorrow.”

“Really?” Riko was surprised at how quickly she could have her piano.

“Yep, my family owns a restaurant chain. So getting what I need to have an enjoyable dorm life is easy. I had a balcony installed in my room since there wasn’t one originally. I also figured that I wanted to combine my room with one next to mine, so I had them combine the two since my room originally wasn’t as roomy as I wanted.”

“Wait wait wait. You can do that?” Yoshiko questioned.

“As long as the headmistress approves.” Mari said laughing.

After Riko and Yoshiko settled into their rooms, they chatted with Mari for a while before they decided to go get dinner and were joined by the rest of their group of friends. The girls talked excitedly about their rooms and made plans to visit each other during their two days off. They also planned on going to town to get whatever they needed for school. Dia also suggested that the 1st years should send letters to their parents to update them on what’s happened so far and if they need anything mailed to the school. So that what they did right after dinner, they all headed over to the mail room to get some supplies and wrote a letter to their parents. Once they were sent, they all went back to their respective houses and got to know some of their other housemates. Yoshiko got to know some of the girls from lunch who were studying dark magic. She also made some friends out of the rockish looking girls. Riko met a musician here and there and discussed about their influences for music. She also met a strange girl with glasses who appeared to be 2nd year. It was strange, the said girl just stared at Riko studying her. Then all of a sudden she said “You’re one of us too aren’t you?” Riko was puzzled at the statement.

“One of you? What does that mean?”

“You know, the ones that read those kinds of doujins.”

“Huh?!” Riko was startled. Did Yoshiko tell people about her hobby? No, she told her that she wouldn’t and Yoshiko didn’t look like someone who would break their promises. But, this girl can sniff her out by just looking at her? How? Was there a spell that allowed people to know someone’s secrets? Mind reading sure, but that’s a high level spell that students shouldn’t be able to do.

“Umm I don’t really know what you’re talking about. Maybe you got the wrong person.” Riko wanted to end this conversation right away and get back to her room.

“Don’t lie, I can sense my kind anywhere.” She’s exaggerating but, she did have a knack at figuring out is someone shared a similar hobby to hers.

“Its okay, I’m into your kind of books. But I’m more of a fujoshi. Though yuri is fine too. Oh yeah, you can just call me Tamako.”

“Okay, umm Tamako-san it’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, well I just wanted to introduce myself so I’ll head off now, got some reading to do.” And with that, she just left. This house really is full of weirdoes Riko thought to herself. After that incident, Riko finally returned back to her room where she found Yoshiko lazing on the couch reading some book with a black cover.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back. How was your evening?”

“It wasn’t bad, outside of running into a strange girl that weirded me out.”

“You seem to be weirded out by a lot of things.”

“Guilty Kiss has a lot of interesting characters in it, in case you didn’t notice.” Riko plopped down on the chair to the right of the couch.

“That’s what makes this house great. Everyone is unique and you never know what exciting thing can happen. You know, I’m sure you’ll grow to like it since you fit in with us more than you think.”

“How so?”

“You’re unique yourself. You read yuri which can count as a strange quirk like the rest of us. You’re really friendly, and you open up once you know your crowd of people. I’m sure those other girls here were like you, and once they found their group of friends, they opened right up and enjoyed themselves.”

“Perceptive of you. Have you been watching me all day or something?”

“Ye… no, I mean its my job as master to make sure my elite little demon Riri is comfortable and safe.” Riko giggled, she doesn’t know why but, Yoshiko is growing on her. At first she thought Yoshiko was weird, but after getting to know her for the day and seeing her worry, she’s cute.

“You know, you gave me a nickname. I think I should give you one myself.”

“Go ahead, if I like it then you and you only may refer to me with that name.”

“Well I don’t have one yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with one before school starts.”

“Very well, then I shall await for what your designation for me is. Well if you’ll excuse me I’ll go take a bath first. Oh and some of the girls I talked to gave me some snacks. Help yourself to them, they’re in the fridge.” The fridges here have cold charms to help students preserve their food. Someone a while back complained that she want cold drinks and not warm ones all the time so the school decided cold charms will be instituted for this problem. Of course they reheat it on their stoves or whatever crazy way they want to reheat things.

“Thanks.” Riko just sat back and relaxed for a bit before she decided to go see what snacks Yoshiko was given. Which reminded Riko, they should stock up on snacks and some other foods and drinks while they shop tomorrow. Riko isn’t really good at cooking and she doubts Yoshiko would be either. Maybe she should take some lessons in her free time, that way they’ll have a healthy diet and not rely on foods from the school or restaurants all the time. Heck they could even ask Mari for help since her family owns a restaurant chain.

**Next Day:**

“Chika-chan, wake up!! We need to prepare to meet up with everyone.”

“Awwww, just give me 5 more minutes!!”

“Hurry up or we’ll leave you”

“Fiiiine.”

Chika woke up a bit late. She was a bit too excited for hanging out with her friends the next 2 days and had trouble falling asleep. She lazily got out of bed and stretched. Her room was what you would expect from someone obsessed with mikans. There was an orange color to most of her things. There was a mini mikan bush on top of her drawer. She had posters of some famous singers/idols on her walls. Her bag and some unpacked boxes were in a corner in her room. She went over to the mirror on her wall and checked her hair antennae then walked out into the living room. Their dorm room isn’t as big as Yoshiko’s and Riko’s, but it was enough for 3 people to live in like Dia said. When you walk in from the hallway, you’ll immediately be in the living room. The living had the basic adornments, rug, couch, sofas, tables, you know the drill. On the far left side is a kitchen. There was also a balcony on that side that led to a view of a side port. This port was a popular spot for students to hang around, swim, fish, and even scuba. There was a shack set up for students if they wanted to do some underwater activities. Their room was at the end of the house which coincidentally was close to the end of one of the Azalea houses, which was also coincidentally where Dia and Kanan roomed. Kanan specifically chose that room because of its close proximity to the side port. This in turn helped Dia stay close to Ruby. Up ahead from the living room, there are 3 doors, each are bedrooms. They even already have nameplates for them. Yo had a light blue one and was on the left. Chika was in the middle with an orange one. Ruby was on the right with a pink one. There is an indent in the wall to the right of the front door that was for the laundry and a closet next to it. To the right of Ruby’s room is the door that leads to their bathroom. Chika went straight to the bathroom and met Ruby inside who was brushing her teeth. The bathroom had a double sink which was nice for a three person dorm.

“Morning Chika-chan!”

“Morning Ruby-chan!” Chika went to the unoccupied sink, grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing.

Yo wanted to cook something, but they decided to eat together with the others yesterday. She was in her room getting dressed. Her room had sailor pictures and posters hanging about. She had a coat rack where she hung her sailor cap and sailor uniform. Her desk was well organized with her supplies and books. She had a picture of her and her family on a boat on the desk also.  She also had some unopened boxes in the room and a piece of paper saying “Model Ships”. It would indicate that she was going to have an area for her model ship making hobby. Ruby just got into her room and was beginning to change. Her room was similar to Chika’s in a way. It had a pinkish glow to it. She had her own posters of idols. It had most things organized and on her bed was a teddy bear. She also had a potted plant in a corner of her room. She also had a small magazine stand with different pop culture magazine already in place. Once Chika was finally dressed, Yo asked if they have everything they needed.

“Wallets/Purses?”

“Check.”

“Wands.”

“Check.”

“Room keys.”

“Check.”

“Yousoro~, lets go!!”

They met up with the rest of the group in front near the fountain. They decided to eat breakfast at the dining hall and once they were finish, they left for town. They took a boat to the town named Takama. Takama was the partner city of Uranohoshi. It’s a town built on the seaside with part of it being built into the side of a mountain. Being a partner town, it had everything a sorceress would need for going to a magic school and also provided a nice location for student to go to and unwind. In fact if they wanted to, they could visit another town down the road from Takama named Yoko. It didn’t have everything Takama has, but it is still nice nonetheless if you wanted to avoid busy areas. While they were still on it, Chika thought it would be a good idea to come up with a group name. You know, since it’s customary to come up with a group name for the circle of friends you’ll be hanging out with a lot. Nobody was opposed to the idea so they all spent some time to think about it. After many suggestions and rejections, the name Aqours was decided upon. I’m sure you know what names were rejected but in case you wanted to know some: 9 mermaids, Yohane’s Legion, Super Sailors, 9ghtengale. Once they arrived they noticed a parcel service store near the docks with students all around it. It was common for students to mail stuff back to campus if they plan to stay in town a while longer after buying stuff, in fact it was suggested to be built there by one of the Housemistresses. It was a fun time for the group, enjoying the scenes and looking through the different magic shops. They found a few fun hangout spots and the 2nd years showed them some places they recommended. They also mentioned that every now and then a carnival/festival comes up and there is one coming in November.

 Once they went to explore on their own, Riko and Hanamaru were at a book store. Hanamaru was browsing for anything fairy tale like that would catch her interest. While Riko was browsing around in the back, she noticed that there was another bookstore attached to the back of the current one. Now, whats a store doing in the back, she wondered. It peaked her interest, so she decided to go into it. What she found astonished her, it was an enclave of doujins. Doujins upon doujins.

“Welcome, may I help?” A female worker spoke towards her. Riko responded saying that she was just browsing around and got curious. “Well if you wondered into this store then there must be something that interests you then.” She wasn’t wrong, but Riko never thought there would be a doujin store behind a book store. “Well if you need anything, feel free to ask.” Riko nodded and went to work. After a while she found her section…. yuri. She carefully browsed, trying to remember what types they had to offer so she can come back here sometime in the future. There were some old ones, some new ones, some she never heard of, some she already read, and more. The section had a variety of settings also. Hmm, “A Fallen Angel’s Angel”, “The Reason I Fell”, “How to Catch a Chuuni”, interesting titles Riko thought. Riko looked up for a clock and realized that she had to return to meet her group soon, so she decided to end it there and left. Before she could the worker said “If there are any recommendations you would like to see added, feel free to put the suggestion in our box. Its customers like you who keep us going. Have a good day.” Riko smiled and said her farewell. When she met up with Hanamaru, she wondered where Riko went. Riko just said that she was in the back of the store. Hanamaru nodded and they continued to walk to the meeting place. Once Aqours assembled they returned to the school.

When they returned, Mari invited everyone to her room. When they arrive they wer in complete shock at how over the top it was. Firstly, it’s a huge room. There were 2 statues of Mari and a bust of her in the living room. The kitchen was high class, and looked like something straight out of a cooking show. She had her own wine cooler for whatever reason. The bathroom had 2 separate hot tubs and things that you can only find in a spa.

“Okay enough, looking around. The reason I wanted to meet was because I had your class schedules sent to my room. So we can all know together.”Mari exclaimed happily.

“We could’ve done that later. But I see your point, might as well get it over with now.” Yoshiko remarked.

Soon the 1st years opened their letters and shared their schedules. They compared times and order of their classes. They also planned out when they should eat lunch together should it be possible. The 2nd years joined in with the lunch planning since their classes are different.

The 1st years at Uranohoshi have 6 required classes; Arithmetic, History of Magic, Magic Structure, Defence against Magic, Herbology, and Potions. Flying was also something taught, which usually happens in the first month in school. After that the 1st years will have to learn flying on their spare time, usually from their seniors. After their 1st year, they are allowed to add two more classes to their schedule with a 7 class minimum. The additional classes can be specialized classes or electives. Some examples would be Alchemy, Transfiguration, Ghoul Studies, Astronomy, Summoning, Divine Magic, etc.

“Hey Yocchan, it seems we have the same classes all day.” Riko couldn’t help but notice.

“Who? Is that supposed to be me?” Yoshiko asked. She was joined by quizzical looks from the others. Riko blushed when she realized what just happened. She came up with the nickname this morning and couldn’t figure out when to tell Yoshiko. She figured it would be when they returned back to their room but, the joy she felt at being in the same classes with her kind of blinded her sense.

“Oh, umm I didn’t mean to say that here. Its just, you know, I told you I’d give you a nickname before school started and it kind of just came out.” Riko said embarrassed.

“Ahem, well I suppose it’s a worthy name for me.” Yoshiko stated trying to keep her composure from the cute name she got.

“So you two are going out!” Mari blurted out. Everyone now paying attention to the embarrassed couple. Ruby looked at them with her eyes wide in anticipation. Chika looked like she couldn’t hide her excitement and wanted to burst out. Hanamaru was looking while eating bread she got from who knows where. Yo wanted to hug the two to congratulate them. Dia and Kanan looked cooly at the unfolding of scenario.

“NO!!!” they both said in unison.

“We’re just good friends.”

“Yeah, I mean its similar to you adding chi to the end of our names.” Yoshiko said trying to kill the scenario with a reasonable explanation.

“Whatever you say. The sooner you admit your feelings the better.” Mari proclaimed.

Soon enough, everyone returned to their rooms. The last break day has passed and now soon first day of school will begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay now that we are nearing some action, I’ve been researching some names for possible conflicts in the future chapters. 
> 
> Don’t be surprised if I mix in stuff from all over the place.
> 
> Azalea rooms will be disclosed sometime in the future.
> 
> Theres no better place to buy doujins then in a secret backroom or store I suppose.
> 
> Don’t ask about the book titles, I just put down whatever pop in my head.
> 
> Heat and cold charms exist for some daily uses
> 
> I might end up using sensei and teacher interchangeably


	4. First Incident

First day of school has begun. Yoshiko and Riko were getting prepared in their room. Riko made sure Yoshiko woke up on time and had everything she needed. She found out about Yoshiko’s school habits and she intends on making sure Yoshiko doesn’t fail. Especially considering Yoshiko told them that she is best at two subjects. Defense against magic and Alchemy. She does fine in Potions but all the other subject she’s either average or below average. Riko on the other hand is good all around with her weakest being Defense. They left their room and began to walk towards school. Mari left early to meet up with Kanan and Dia so it was just the two of them. They chatted about what to expect in their classes and eventually ran into Hanamaru, Ruby, Chika, and Yo. The six of them shared their first class together on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. While walking through the halls to their first class, they heard some chatter about their senseis.

“Hey, hey, do you think sensei has someone special in her life?”

“I don’t know, she’s so cool I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.”

“The herbology teacher is so adorable.”

“Don’t you think it be romantic if I ran into sensei at the bridge under the moonlight?”

Ah love for your sensei. That feeling of loving someone older than you, knowing that a student teacher relationship can cause problems. And yet still have the resolve to pursue it. Having “Private study sessions” at their place or secretly meeting during breaks during the school day. Riko has seen this far too many times in her doujins. Arriving at the classroom, Yoshiko immediately went over to the back seat in the corner near the window. It was as if she was a main character or something. Riko decided to take the seat next to her, while Hanamaru and Ruby sat at the seats in front of them. Chika and Yo occupied the table beside Riko and Yoshiko. They continued on with their chat from before as students filed into their seats. Then the room fell silent, the six girls turned to the front to see if their sensei arrived yet. The person who walked in was a woman of stunning beauty. She had a fit figure, long cobalt blue hair, and brown eyes. There was an almost knightly cool aura emanating from her as she approached her podium.

“Good morning class, my name is Sonoda Umi, and I’ll be your Defense Against Magic teacher.” The class broken out of their trance began complimenting Umi and wanted to get to know more about their cool sensei. The six girls in the back knew that those were the chat of girls who have fallen for their sensei as they go back and forth for her attention. Then all of a sudden another person walked in. The class stopped and looked at the girl walking in. She had red shoulder length hair and violet eyes. She was wearing a white and red robe.

“Your class is a little bit noisy this morning. Think you can handle it?” she said in a teasing tone.

“Its nothing new, I’m guessing you have what I asked for.” Umi said cooly.

“Of course”, as she handed over a wand with a dark blue line around the middle. “Don’t forget it next time or do, it doesn’t matter.” Umi took a look over to her students and noticed their gazing interest.

“Ahem, class this is the schools healer and teacher for Medicinal Magic, Nishikino Maki.”

“Pleasure to meet you, hopefully I’ll be seeing yall for class and not other reasons.”, she said it jokingly but some of the students gulped in fear.

“Don’t scare them like that.”

“It’ll be ok. Welp guess I’ll head back to my office.” They both exchanged final looks before the red head left the room. To some students that might be a regular exchange between sensei. Not for Riko, with her trained eye, “The Yuri Eye”, she could tell there some something more between the two senseis. Romance between senseis is nothing new for Riko as she’s seen it in her doujins. Soon Umi started class and went over some of the basics and decided not to overload them with too much on the first day.

“In this class we’ll start with basics on understanding magic. This should cross with some of your other classes as there will be similar information. From the basics, we’ll move to understanding how to fight off against different magic types and spells. There will be spars throughout the year to see if you can apply what we learn here into real time situations. Don’t worry about getting hurt, your wands were made to help control and aim your spells. So, there shouldn’t really be anything that goes overboard unless you are casting something well above your level, like casting magic bare handed. Plus you’ll have me there and occasionally Nishikino-sensei will be there if she has free time. If you do have a hard time with actual sparring then feel free to ask for help, I’m sure the other senseis and I can help should you need it.”

“She’s really cool just like what everyone is saying.” Ruby said as they exited class.

“Yeah, theres a calming manner in the way she speaks and teaches. It’s a bonus she didn’t go too much into detail today.” Yoshiko said in relief. She likes the subject just not if theres too much homework for her to do.

“It’ll be a fun class if she’s teaching like that zura.”

“Hopefully Ruby and I will be okay with the live sparring.” Riko was hesitant when she heard about the live sparring portion of class. Both she and Ruby had no problem with the concepts and stuff taught in class but, when it came to actual combat there come the problem. Riko tends to hesitate as she’s scared to make a mistake. Ruby gets panicky and screams “Pigiii!”. If “Pigi” was an actual spell Ruby could probably win most of her bouts with the opponents being confused if that was a scream in fear or a scream for an attack. Ruby had experience, its just that Dia would never let anyone harm her and would potentially kill someone if that ever happens. Soon they all went their separate ways for their second class of the day. Yoshiko and Riko went to Magic Structure. Hanamaru and Ruby went to Potions. Chika and Yo went to get and early lunch since they don’t have a class midday today. In the afternoon for their last class of the day Riko and Yoshiko met Chika and Yo just before they got into the classroom. They asked about each other’s day so far and decided on where to sit. Yoshiko made it clear if it’s the front then see ya. The sensei for this class had pale purple eyes and light brown hair. She also wore glasses and looked like she was about to panic.

“Uh um H-Hello class. I’m Koizumi Hanayo, and I-I’ll be your Herbology teacher today. Hopefully I-I can help you know the d-different kinds of plant life out there and their properties.” Something about her scream must protect in the minds of some of the students. The students enjoyed the class, as Hanayo grew more comfortable with them and was able to speak clearly and smoothly without any hiccups from the intro before.

“Finally, we’re free!”, both Yoshiko and Chika shouted as they walked out of class.

“The 2nd years should still have class I think, should we go find Hanamaru and Ruby?” Yo asked the group.

“Yeah, but where do we find them? The dorms?”

“Knowing Zuramaru, she’s either in the library or her room.”

“Then lets try her room first.” Chika decided

“Why? We’re in the school building, might as well check the library first.” Yo rebutted.

“I don’t know, its just a feeling I guess. Come on!” She ran towards the Azalea houses and the others followed along. They arrived at Azalea area of campus, then it donned on them that nobody knew exactly where Hanamaru’s room was and also the fact that there were an unusual amount of birds in the area compared to other parts of campus. They were lost in thought when an Azalea walked up to ask them if they needed any help. She later pointed them the way to where Hanamaru’s room was and the girls were on their way. A thought donned on Chika that they should check out Dia’s and Kanan’s room since they were here, but for now Hanamaru and Ruby. She knocked on the door and in a voice answered “Come in.”

When they entered Hanamaru’s room, they found her reading a book on a sofa and Ruby was laying on the floor reading a magazine. Her room was smaller compared to the others. The living room was first and it was big enough to fit Aqours in from the looks of it. To the left was a small kitchen. A bit forward from there was a dining table and beyond that was the door to her bedroom. On the farthest wall were bookshelves with some books on them and gaps between the shelves for the windows. The right side had the laundry room which was connected to the bathroom.

“So, how was everyone’s day? zura.”

“Boring, I wanted to sleep but Riko wouldn’t let me.”

“If you slept then it would cause trouble for me. I thought you said the classes were interesting.”

“Only the Defence class. Herbology was alright and Structure was just a lecture the whole way.”

“I had to stop Chika-chan real quick, she looked like she was about to taste a plant.” Yo remarked.

“Koizumi-sensei said they weren’t poisonous. And that they make good ingredients for some food.”

“Only if they’re cooked properly. Eating it raw is poison….. Say Ruby-chan, what you reading over there?”

“Huh, oh I’m reading up on this new upcoming idol group. They’re sisters and it says that they are set to debut sometime next year.”

“Really? Let me see.” Chika went over to Ruby and they read the idol magazine together. The other four talked and looked around Hanamaru’s supply of books for something interesting. Soon enough a knock came.

‘Come in.” * _Knock Knock._ “Come in.” Strange, Hanamaru looked at the other girls and they just shrugged their shoulders not knowing what that was about. Hanamaru went to check and opened the door. There was nobody in sight. That’s strange Hanamaru thought; she then looked down and found a branch. She picked it up and examined it then closed the door returning back to the others.

“There was no one there but, there was this branch.”

“That’s not weird at all.” Yoshiko said sarcastically.

“What would a branch be doing in here?”

“Could be someone collecting branches for a ritual.”

“Only you would Yocchan. Is there anything abnormal about the branch?” Riko asked.

“Hmm, not that I can see. Zura.”  The other gathered around Hanamaru wondering what the heck was that knock just then for there to be just a branch. A little bit later the branch started to glow scaring the girls and Hanamaru quickly dropped the branch. Once the branch stopped glowing there was webs on it all of a sudden. Yoshiko didn’t want to take any chances and quickly contained it.

“Sprectral Containment”, a dark energy came up from the ground and enveloped the branch.

 “Quick get a vessel for me to put this thing in.” Hanamaru rushed over to a shelf and brought out a clear containment jar that had markings on it. The markings were typical measure for Hanamaru as she deals with spirits as part of her family’s temple work. The markings were to ensure whatever is in the jar never gets out. She opened it and Yoshiko dropped it in. Then Hanamaru mumbled an incantation, the jar lit up, and a locking noise could be heard.

“There now its in the jar for good. Just what was that? Zura”

“I don’t know, but branches don’t just suddenly glow and grow spider webs.”

“D-d-do we tell someone about this?” Ruby asked.

“Oh is this one of those mysteries? I think we should totally look into this.”Chika said enthusiastically.

“This isn’t the time for that.” Riko responded.

 “I bet Koizumi-sensei might know something about this branch. It is her area of expertise.” Yo suggested.

“But what if it is something dangerous?” Riko rebutted.

“Okay, we ask Koizumi-sensei what this is. If she says its something normal then we leave it alone. If not then I don’t think it will hurt if we delve into it a bit. Its part of the journey as students.” Yo spoke confidently.

“Yosh, then lets look into this tomorrow when we’re free from classes.” Chika remarked.

A little while later another knock came. This time Hanamaru just went to answer the door with Chika and Yo following behind her. When they opened it, there were the 2nd years. They thought something was wrong seeing how nerous some of them looked and asked did something happen. Ruby quickly buried her head into her magazine while the other 1st years said nothing was wrong. So, the 2nd years just let it be and found places to sit down and talked to them.

“I have something special for you all.” Mari said in excitement. Everyone wondered what it was and stopped whatever they were doing.

“So this campus is pretty big. We have the school grounds, our houses, the forest, woods, a few lakes, ports, and some open fields on this land. We also will be going to Takama or Yoko. Sometimes we’ll be too busy to make face to face contact with one another. So I bought you all these.” She held out small orbs and everyone looked confused at what they were. Good luck charms? A strap? Candy? They each took one orb and examined them. When they just don’t know what it was they looked at Mari for an answer.

“These are new, top of the line “Communication Orbs”. They allow you to speak to someone else from a distance. Now we can check up on each other whenever without the hassle. I’m sure you’ve noticed that there are no phones here. The reason being is that this is a magic school. So there is an extremely high amount of magical interference that will stop electric lines from working properly. There have been charms made by the top level sorceresses to help of our living conditions. The only form of electricity that would work is either nature’s or our spells. So, I went and bought these for us.”

“Wait, how come nobody else has them?”

“Well, these are still in testing phase, so its not a finished product yet. But the makers of these said that the ones I have should work most of the time. I’m sure the senseis here have them as its top of the line stuff. That or they developed some kind of communication network with each other that we don’t know about.”

“Cool, so how do these work?”

“Hmhm, its simple. First we should actually grow them so we can get the process done. Now, first we pour some of our magic into it. Then we stabilize it to make sure it doesn’t break on use. It is stable when there is a faint glow of the color of whatever energy you put into it. After that we have a fully operational “CO”. To communicate with each other we would have to tap them with each other for it to remember the energy signature of the other person. Once that’s done all you do know is put some energy in to activate it and while you are doing that, think of the person you want to call and voila!.

The girls all did what Mari said, step by step. They poured some of their energy into it, and the orbs started to glow their respective colors. Once they were stabilized, they took turns tapping on each other’s orbs to get their energy signature. Then Mari immediately left the room and tried to call Kanan. Her orb glew purple, and the girls just stood there. The glowing kept dimming and lighting up over and over again. Mari returned to the room, “I forgot, to answer a call you would just pour energy into it like before. My bad.” She then left again and tried calling again. This time Kanan answered the call

“Hello?”

“Hiiiiiiiii!! SHINYYY!!” Everyone covered their ears at how loud Mari was.

“Why are you so loud?”

“Oh Kanan, how can you say that when you just took my first?”

“Your first?”

“My first call on this “CO”, it’s a really special moment.”

“Yeah, whatever, just come back to the room.”

“Only if theres a big hug waiting for me at the end of this line.”

“No!”

“Shinyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!”

“Okay Okay, hugs.” Mari quickly came into the room and ran towards Kanan screaming “LOCK ONNNN!”. Dia got in front of Kanan, arms crossed with an angry look on her face. Mari stopped momentarily and then went in and hugged Dia tightly.

“Oh Dia, if you wanted one then just say so. Theres more than enough to go around.” She then grabbed Kanan and hugged them both tightly. Then all of a sudden they felt a hand on their breast. “Oh these are still feelings of bliss.” Both Dia and Kanan knocked Mari in the head. Despite that she was still happy with the look on her face that said “Worth it”. Once the hugs were over Aqours discussed how they communicate each other using the “CO”. Dia mentioned that they should not be used in class and not at inconvenient times like really late at night.

“Oh I can’t wait, I’m sure given more time they can figure out how to get images on these things and we can actually see each other’s faces when we talk.” Mari mentioned in excitement. It was starting to get late and they needed to eat dinner, so Aqours went to the dining hall and ate dinner without talking about the Cos not knowing what affect it would have if other students found out they have a product not out yet. Once dinner was done, everyone just went back to their rooms. Yoshiko laid on the couch as usual.

“You’ll get fat you know.”

“Hmph, this is but a vessel, it can’t gain weight.”

“Oh? Then explain this?” Riko pinched Yoshiko’s skin and it flabbed a bit. Yoshiko snatched her arm away in embarrassment.

“That’s just resting, yeah, my muscles were resting.”

“Whatever you say Yocchan.”

“…..Hey Riri.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you really enjoy this, living with me?” The question came out of nowhere, Riko was shocked that someone as confidant and carefree as Yoshiko would have concerns.

“What do you mean?”

“You know, dealing with me. I tried to summon something our first night here. In the morning I was trying to perform a ritual and scared you. I leave my fallen angel stuff everywhere and you end up cleaning up them all. It feels like I’m a burden and it did look like you didn’t want this in the beginning.”

Riko was at a loss for words. Sure at first Riko didn’t think this would work out. And she wanted to be with more normal people. Just look at Mari and Yoshiko, these people are straight up random. Despite that she stuck through it all and she came to appreciate the excitement they brought to her life. She knows that Yoshiko was a really good girl on the inside who has troubles expressing herself properly.

“Yocchan, of course I enjoy living here with you. I was just not used to all these crazy things happening to me. I lived a normal life back home, normal life schedule, normal family life. The only thing that made me go beyond the norm was playing piano. When I came here I wanted a normal school experience also, but when I met you then eventually the others, I realized that maybe having excitement in my life isn’t a bad thing. If anything, I would love to go on some crazy adventures with you and everyone in Aqours.” Yoshiko was bright red when she heard Riko’s answer. She burned even more when she looked up to see Riko smile at her.

“Well, of course you would love living with your mistress, you are my elite demon….. Speakng of which, we had the piano in place but you’ve yet to play it.” Yoshiko pointed to the piano Mari had placed in the corner for Riko. “I would love it if Riri would play something on it sometime.”

“Sure thing Yocchan, I just want to get adjusted to school life for a bit before I start playing again.”

“I’ll be waiting for it then.”

All of a sudden, their COs were glowing. They took them out and noticed it was glowing multiple colors; orange, light blue, yellow and pink. When they answered, there were four other people on the line.

“Hey, Riko-chan, Yoshiko-chan.” It was Chika who answered first.

“YOHANE!”

“Quiet down Yocchan… You can call multiple people on this?”

“Apparently yes, I tried to call multiple people because why wouldn’t it work like a regular phone you know. That’s what this is basically, just orb form.” Chika explained

“So why would you need Yo-chan and Ruby-chan on the line if they live in the same room as you?”

“Just testing out the limits of this thing. Might as well since Mari said these things were built sturdy beyond belief.”

“That’s not important Riri, why’d you wanted to call all of us?”

“Oh yeah, so who’s going to ask Koizumi-sensei about the branch?”

“I think Ruby and I should. We wanted to talk to Koizumi-sensei about something ourselves, so we could bring it up during our conversation.”

“Good idea Hanamaru-chan. Just leave it to us everyone; we’ll do our Rubesty on this.”

“Alright! Remember not to tell the Dia, Kana, and Mari.”

“We won’t, now if you excuse me, I have an important ritual to perform tonight.”

“Do, you want my help zura?”

“No!!, Just read whatever it is you read Zuramaru.”

“Hehe, goodnight everyone zura.” Everyone said their goodnights and turned off their COs. Yoshiko and Riko continued their chat before the call when Riko brought up a question.

“So I was thinking of trying out cooking. What do you think Yocchan?”

“Oh, Riri wants to make me offerings to receive my blessings?”

“Yes, I would like to be blessed by you. Your presence is what gives me reason to live Yohane-sama.” Yoshiko picked up the sarcastic playful tone and went back to normal.

“Fine, why are you trying to cook?”

“Well, I’m not really that good, so I figured it be nice to learn so we can have some of our own food instead of having to go to the dining hall to eat all the time.”

“Oh, that sounds like a very good idea. I guess since we’re living together, we should share the grocery bill?”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t, its only fair.”

“Okay, I’ll invite everyone over sometime soon so they can try it.”

The very next day, the 1st years all met up before heading to Arithmetic class. It went just as you expected it to. Chika had the look of someone who was about to die from all the numbers and variables. Yo was doing her best to keep up. Ruby looked to Hanamaru for help whenever she needed it. Yoshiko was asleep with Riko trying to get her up. Riko and Hanamaru understood everything taught in class. After Arithmetic class, Yoshiko and Riko went to Potions class. It took everything in Riko’s power to stop Yoshiko from mixing up her own concoctions and possibly blowing up the class. In fact, Yosshiko barely paid attention in class as she was thinking up of different recipes to mix and try. Chika, Yo, Hanamaru, and Ruby were in Magic Strucure class. Nothing too exciting happened. Then Yoshiko, Riko, Chika, and Yo met up for Herbology class. Hanamaru and Ruby went somewhere for a break as their Herbology class is after the other four’s.

“Why do you look exhausted Riko-chan?” Yo asked noticing Riko was sighing.

“I had to stop this child over here from blowing up our class today.”

“Its Potions, not Alchemy. Nothing blows up in Potions class.”

“I imagine mixing different substances together could cause some kind of combustive reaction, you need to follow the book and not go off on your own.” Yo looked at the two bicker and looked over at Chika. Knowing her, Yo might have to do the same as Chika’s curiosity could endanger the class also. As the last classes of the day ended, Hanamaru and Ruby went to Hanayo’s office to ask about the branch and some other things. Riko told the girls that she wanted to go look at something in the library so they can head back without her. As she wondered through the hall, she forgotten how big the school was, and maybe she should’ve asked one of those talking pictures for directions. She eventually ended up in the Defense section of the school and as she walked through the hall, she heard some familiar voices in an office just up ahead of her.

“Now is not the time and place for something so shameless.”

“Oh you, we don’t know how much time we’ll have for each other now that school started.”

 “Well, if you controlled yourself, you wouldn’t have to be in the mood so often.”

“But I sit in my office all day. That’s plenty of time to be thinking of you. And it doesn’t help that our positions actually go hand in hand.”

“Awww, is my poor kitten lonely.”

Riko was turning red from the conversation. Curiosity took over and she had to find out what was going on. She slowly approached the office door and peeked in. The sight she saw made her gay heart race to extreme levels. There in the office was her blue haired sensei sitting in a chair. But the banger was the red haired healer who was straddled on top of her and they were making out. Riko quickly covered her eyes but made sure to leave a gap between her fingers so she could see what’s going on. “Oh my gosh, Sonoda-sensei and Nishikino-sensei are lovers” Riko thought to herself. She was lost in thought until she realized that they were starting to undress each other. Umi continued to kiss Maki, slowly making her way down to her neck. As she kissed her collarbone and shoulders, she started unbuttoning Maki’s dress shirt. Soon it was Maki’s turn as she teasingly unbuttoned Umi’s slowly. Umi, figure they should go somewhere more comfortable, picked up Maki, who was wrapped around her, and carried her to the couch where they continued kissing each other before they started removing their dress pants. Riko couldn’t take it anymore, she knew if she saw them go any further, she would pass out. She ran quickly while holding her nose making sure it wouldn’t bleed from the pressure of the situation she just saw. As she ran through the halls, she failed to notice a strange girl standing at the end of one hall. The girl had dead fish eyes and the color of her pupils or pale. She just stood there then walked away.

Riko quickly got back to the Guilty Kiss houses and caught her breathe by the fountain in the front area. Thoughts of what she saw still fresh in her mind. She then went inside and headed for her room. It was locked, “Hmm? Is Yocchan out right now?” She unlocked the door and went inside. What she saw made her heart race again as if what happened earlier wasn’t enough. There on the couch laying stomach down was the Fallen Angel wearing a tanktop and nothing beneath. Riko just stood there frozen at the sight of her black panties. The Fallen Angel noticed and looked back to see Riko just standing there.

“What are you doing?” When she noticed Riko just staring, a smirk appeared on her face.

“Oh, are you bewitched by my ethereal beauty. No one has ever witnessed my beauty in this form. You should treasure it as my one elite little demon.” Yoshiko turned around almost seductively giving Riko the full view of her figure. Riko couldn’t move until she felt a bit of drool come out of her mouth.

“What are you doing wearing that?”

“Its our room, might as well be comfortable.”

“Can you at least not be lounging around in just your panties?”

“You don’t like?”

 _‘Yes!’_ “No, just put some pants on or something.” Riko doesn’t know if she’ll survive the day with everything that’s happened so far. Yoshiko just sighed and went to her room to put some pants on, Riko’s eyes getting a last look before she went to the bathroom to calm down and washed her face. When she came back Yoshiko was there fully clothed this time.

“So, have you heard anything from Hanamaru-chan”?

“Nope, I called her and told her to meet up here when they finished. Also told Chika and Yo that too.”

“Oh, then I guess we just wait now.”

“Did you find what you needed in the library?”

“Hm?”

“You said you were going to the library after class.”

“Oh! Yeah I did, it went… very well. Yep.”

“What were you looking for?”

“Umm some tips for cooking.”

“Okaaaay?” Yoshiko thought it was strange that Riko would go the school library just for a cookbook, but decided not to press it since there are more important things on hand. Eventually a knock came on their door and on the other side were the four girls they were waiting for. Before, they started their business; they took a quick tour of the room and were amazed at how big it was for the two of them. After the tour, they all sat down in the living room area.

“So, we went and asked sensei about the branch. She said it was a bit strange that this particular branch would just suddenly pop up out of nowhere, but it’s not rare for animals to carry things out of the forest. Of course we didn’t tell her we found it at Hanamaru’s door. She said that this was a branch from the Jirach Tree. It’s a tree that emits a slightly sweet scent and it’s a popular tree for spiders to try and make their homes in, which explains the spider webs on it.”

“It looked like a regular branch, then it changed into one if webs on it. That’s not natural.” Yoshiko remarked.

“They say that this specific tree can actually be found deep in the forest to the Northeast of here. There’s supposed to be a small lake with a Jirach near it. zura”

“Oh then how about we explore it soon.”

“How about not, it sounds dangerous Chika-chan.”

“Don’t worry Riko-chan, Yo-chan can take care of it. Yoshiko-chan too.”

“Its YOHANE! And of course, with my powers, any being who dares cross our path will be sent to another realm.” Just then their COs glowed and it was from the 2nd years.

“Hiiiiii!, Everone I just want to let y’all know that the first event for the House Cup has been decided and it will be duels. They will be held in two weeks.”

“It would behoove you all to attend your house meetings and listen to your Housemistresses.”

“Dia, don’t make it sound like it’s a life threatening thing. It’s an event for fun. Just be sure you all get the details alright?” They all agreed and Riko suddenly asked them a question.

“Would you all be interested in coming over Sunday morning? I would like for you all to try my cooking. I’m trying to get good at it.”

“Oh? Are you trying to win over your fallen angel wife Rikochhi?” At that question Riko and Yoshiko lit up red again.

“H-how many times do I have to say it, we’re just friends. And its just something to thank you all for being friends and supporting me so far.” The girls just smiled and they all agreed to the arrangement. Once everything was settled, everyone left back to their rooms.

“Oh Yocchan, would like to accompany me to grocery shopping tomorrow? I need to get supplies to practice cooking for Sunday.”

“Sure no problem, it be nice to get off of campus every now and then.” Yoshiko responded before heading to the bathroom for a bath. Once she entered the bath she couldn’t help but freak out realizing what just happened. ‘She invited me out! Is this what they call a first date? No no, we’re only friends; mistress and servant. It’s just she requires my presence to help with procuring goods for her cooking.’ The thoughts flooded her mind as she bathed, losing track of time. A sudden knock on the door snapped her out of thought.

“Yes?”

“Don’t take too long okay? It won’t be good for your health and I need to take one too.”

“Right, I’ll be done in a few.” Once her bath was finished, she returned to her room. Wearing black shorts and a white shirt that had a motif of a circular being with purple horns, she laid down in bed. Lost in thought thinking about her studies on dark magic and Riko. ‘Could an angel have come down to help me? Provide me with a source of companionship? Fate sure has a funny way of doing things. Does she even see me like that?’ As Yoshiko’s thoughts continued to swirl, she eventually fell asleep hugging a plush of the very same mascot on her shirt. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me forever to come up with class schedules that work.
> 
> I wanted a way for them communicate that would be easy, so communication orbs was my answer.
> 
> I know it’s been long, but action will be happening next chapter
> 
> UmiMaki is my drug. I love KotoUmi n NicoMaki tho.
> 
> I should probably keep a list of spells each girl has just to remind myself


	5. Let's Duel

It was a Sunday morning, Riko got up early to prepare to make breakfast for Aqours. She’s been practicing and hopes all that work pays off. Countless mistakes and burnt food never dampened her resolve. Soon enough the guest started to arrive. Mari first for obvious reasons, then came Azalea, then Cyaron. Kanan and Yo helped set a table with the dining table so all the girls could sit together.

“Where’s Yoshiko-chan?”

“She’s probably sleeping in again. Sorry about that, but I’m almost done, so Yoshiko-chan can join us later.” She started passing out plates with food on them and Kanan lent a hand. Today’s breakfast was omelets. Something simple Riko thought to begin with. The omelets had diced tomatoes, spinach, and bell peppers in them. To the side was sausages and toast with homemade jam.

“It looks delicious zura!”

“Wow, and you said you just started learning?” Yo asked.

“No, I’ve cooked before, but it didn’t turn out well so I just stopped.”

“Well lets dig in!” Chika exclaimed

“Itadakimasu.” They all said in unison.

As soon as the first bites were had, their enthusiasm from before quickly disappeared. There were looks of betrayal and disappointment across their faces. Even Hanamaru looked like she wanted to cry. She loves food and for it to betray her like that was a shock. Everything looked so good but it all came out tasting so bland and is that how an omelet is supposed to taste? “How is it?” Riko asked in anticipation.

“Umm its its you know.”

“Taste good, is is it your own recipe?”

“No, I just followed what it said in this book.” She followed the book to the t and still managed to mess up. This was going through everyone’s head. Dia then spoke up;

“Riko-san, I know you tried your best and worked hard, but this isn’t good.”

“Eh??!! I followed the recipe, what could I have done wrong?” What recipe book could make the food bad. The only saving grace was the toast, but the jam left a lot to be desired. Suddenly a yawn could be heard from the back doorway.

“Huaaaahhhh. What, everyone is here already?” She went and sat down at an empty chair next to Hanamaru. She then noticed the plate of food and started to eat. Before she did, she noticed the stares aiming at her. “What? I’m sorry I slept in I guess.” And with that she began eating. She just ate it regularly.

“So, how’s the food? Zura”

“Its delicious!!!”

“EHHHHHHHHH???!!!” everyone said in unison.

“It doesn’t beat my mom’s but this is really great. Hey are you gonna finish that?” she asked Hanamaru before taking her plate and eating it.

“Umm Yoshiko-chan, are you sure?”Riko asked.

“Of course. If you keep cooking like this, I’ll be happy to eat your food. It could use a little more spice, but that’s okay, I can always use Tabasco sauce.” Everyone was staring in shock. Did Riko make Yoshiko’s food taste better than the others? No, she’s eating their plates of food as well so it can’t be. This was the moment they realized that Yoshiko has weird taste in food, or she just doesn’t have taste buds. Mari put in a request for food to the school, and the food was brought up to Riko and Yoshiko’s dorm. Soon after breakfast was finished, the girls chatted and played some card games.

“Huuuu, I think I ate too much.” Yoshiko leaned on Riko whining.

“I told you not to eat so much.”

“But, your food was good. It be a waste not to eat it all.”

“You didn’t finish it all, theres still some left in the fridge.”

“Huuuuuu.” Yoshiko continued to lean on Riko. Partly because she ate too much, the other reason so she can peak at the cards in her hand and cheat. Riko caught her and put her in a headlock which garnered some giggles from the others. This was a peaceful Sunday that the girls enjoyed with one another. Dia reminded them that the Duels will start after next weekend so even if they aren’t going to participate, it would still be good to get to know the rules.

When the time for the Duels came, all the girls were called to assemble at the respective houses for a house wide meeting. Each House-Mistress would address them and make the selections for the participants. The first Duel is a single style round robin organized by year. Since it’s the first of the year, the field size is small and the points awarded is fewer than normal sized Duels. Each Year would have one person represent them and they will all compete against the girls of their same year in a round robin format. For example; For the 1st years, there would be one representative for each house making 3 total. Then one match would be Guilty Kiss vs Cyaron, the next would be Cyaron vs Azalea, and finally ending with Guilty Kiss vs Azalea. Giving each participant two matches to compete in. This is repeated for years 2 through 6. In case of injury then a sub may be assigned but must be decided upon before the matches begin. The house with the most wins take 1st place and be awarded the most points. Followed by 2nd and 3rd. The goal is to immobilize your opponent or disarm them in a way where the official deems them unable to fight back in. Fatal attacks are prohibited.

 

At Cyaron:

“Is everyone here? Okay, we must fight with energy and spirit. Never give up. No matter the odds, as long as you believe, you will never lose!! Is everyone readyyyy?” A loud roar can be heard from Cyaron’s courtyard. “That’s what I like to see nyaa!! With that, I’ll let Kaede announce the participants nyaa.” The said House-mistress transformed into a cat and scurried off to a certain herbologist with glasses.

“OK, umm the participants will be….”

At Azalea: 

“Everyone, go out there and do your best. You must fight hard and show everyone they you are all as dangerous as alpacas and as lovely as alpacas. If we weren’t dolphins, then we would be alpacas. Channel the alpaca spirit and defeat your opponents…..”

“There she goes, talking about alpacas again.”

“Well she is the caretaker for animals so..”

“You can’t deny, her cuteness gives you energy.”

“Better that then when she gets angry. Remember what happened to the girl that knocked over her alpaca statue.” Everyone went pale and shivered at the thought. Their Housemistress was the kindest soul you could ever meet in the world. But you know what they say, the kindest people are often the scariest. In fact there are 4 staff members that the students didn’t want to piss off at the school; Sonoda, their purple haired councelor, their blonde History teacher, and the Azalea Housemistress, Minami Kotori. Often referred to as “MATS”, an acronym for their surname. Why “MATS”, because that what you’ll end up as if you anger them beyond a certain point.

“Is everyone pumped up? Lets go and get a strong start for this year’s House Cup! Now, announcing the participants…”

At Guilty Kiss:

Riko was dragging Yoshiko and Mari to the meeting. She cannot believe these two troublemakers decided to do a wild test of “Let’s see who can blow a bigger hole in the wall with our potions” the day of the meeting. When she turned the corner, she saw a certain short, twin tailed, black haired girl reading a piece of paper.

“Are you lost little girl?”

“Did you just call me little?!” She was furious. She looked at the perpetrator and glared at her. She then saw Mari snicker, and yelled. “Mari!! You should teach these underclassmen some to respect their elders. Get in there before I “Nico” you into next week.” Mari just laughed and pushed her friends into the meeting hall.

“Be careful Rikocchi, you don’t want to anger the wrong person now.” Riko was confused as to what that meant and looked over to Yoshiko who just shrugged her shoulders. Soon the door opened and the same girl from before walked in and was accompanied by a much taller girl with long purple pig tails. She was as developed if not more than Mari.

“Alright you louts, we are the defending champions and it filled me with great pride that my children were able to win the cup. But this is a new year and we must defend our prides as Guilty Kiss. So, go out there and Nico them like nobody has ever Nico’ed them before. Nico nico niii!”

Only a handful of girls replied to her Nico-nico-nii with one of their own. The rest were flat, so flat it gave Nico hopes and dreams of growing in a particular area. She stared at her residents.

“Now Nicocchi, just let them have fun. No need for a military like speech.”

“Shut it, I’m instilling the Guilty Kiss spirit.”

“Nicocchi~” the purple haired girl grinned at the smaller girl with her hands raised in a weird way.

“Okay okay, ahem, Lets just go have fun and win for your fellow Guilty kiss members. Is everyone ready?”

“Huzzaaaahhhhh!” A unified huzzah was heard and still shocked Riko at how unified these group of random people are.

“Nozomi, would you please announce the participants.”

“Of course.”

It was time and all the students filed into an arena off to the side near the ocean. There were stands for the teachers, stands for each house, and a stand for those who would rather sit with their friends from other houses. Aqours of course sat in the latter. The excitement was building even though it was only the first event of the year. Most year 5 and 6 students didn’t care for it but, used it as an opportunity to socialize. The point of a duel this early is to see potential.

Yoshiko was chosen to represent the Guilty Kiss 1st years. Yo was representing the Cyaron 1st years. Hanamaru was chosen for the Azalea 1st years. Mari was picked for the Guilty Kiss 2nd years. Kanan and Dia were busy helping organizing the event so they couldn’t participate, but were able to watch the early matches before having to leave to help out. The early matches were the 1st and 2nd years. There will be a break after the 3rd year matches and it will finish up though the 6th years. In rare cases matches don’t complete in time, the matches that haven’t started will be moved to the next day.

The non-participating members of Aqours took their seat at the front of the neutral stand which was across from the faculty stands. Riko sat on the left, Ruby in the middle, and Chika on the right. Dia and Kanan were sitting right behind.

“I hope they will all be all right. Fighting against each other so soon must be tough.” Ruby said in worry.

“It’s alright Ruby, it’s part of learning. I believe the best way to grow is to fight against your friends. It helps you develop when you fight against someone who you know and probably know how you fight. Kanan, Mari, and I had to do it plenty of times and we enjoyed it and learned so much from it.”

“Yeah, but just to let you know, Yo is gonna win. She’ll wipe out all the competition.”

“Umm its more like she’ll only fight against Yoshiko and Hanamaru” Kanan said. Riko laughed and watched the matches closely. This being her weakest area, she wanted to learn how to improve at it. In the back of her mind, she also wanted to see how Yoshiko fought considering she’s interested in dark magic. Soon enough the official for the match appeared and it was Deputy Headmistress Toudou. She briefly restated the rules and introduced the first 2 fighters. The first match would be Yoshiko vs Hanamaru.

“Kukuku, to think I would duel against my childhood friend. The being of zura, Zuramaru!”

“It surprised me too Yoshiko-chan. Let’s have a good match zura.”

“Do you two have any questions before we start the match?” They both shook their heads. “Then to your places.” The arena was a circular grassland. There were 4 pillars in a perfect square, placed 100 yards apart from each other. Pleny of space to run around and not much cover unless you make your own. Both Yoshiko and Hanamaru got to their spots and readied themselves. “Ready…….. Begin!!!”


	6. Vs. Hanamaru

“Begin!!” With that, the duel began. Both Yoshiko and Hanamaru drew their wands and pointed them at each other. Yoshiko made the first moved and fired regular energy bolts at Hanamaru to which she countered each shot with bolts of her own, each one clashing with one another crackling the air around them. Once the firing died down, Yoshiko began moving and ran to her left. Hanamaru aimed and fired more energy bolts, only to be met with Yoshiko’s own. It was clear from the start that they are gauging each other, trying to formulate the best strategy to win. Yoshiko had a lot of pride, she did not care if Hanamaru is better than her academically, but she refuses to lose to her in a test of physical abilities. Her pride will be shot, though she understands that magic duels are more than just physical abilities.

She figured the best approach would be to get Hanamaru off her spot. Get her moving and tire her out physically, then she’ll take longer to cast spells, which Yoshiko can take advantage of. She quickly casted a levitation spell on a section of the ground and a chunk of the ground is now floating in the air. She chucked it towards Hanamaru’s direction. “Terrabreaker” before Hanamaru could cast, Yoshiko broke the chunk of ground flying at Hanamaru into smaller chunks and they pelted Hanamaru’s position. Hanamaru got out of the way, “Piercing Light”, Hanamaru shot a beam of light that split into 4 sharp thinner beams of light. Yoshiko quickly erected a barrier of dark energy and the beams of light were neutralized.

‘Damn, gotta be careful not to use too much dark magic spells. Luckily this was a lower level barrier spell that only blocked a small area.’ Yoshiko told herself. Hanamaru now shot light energy bolts toward Yoshiko, these were stronger from her standard bolts, and Yoshiko began to run towards one of the pillars. As she hid behind one, more bolts were being shot at her. It was clear Hanamaru planned on not letting Yoshiko cast too many spells. The bolts suddenly stopped and Hanamaru started chanting. “This is bad; if she’s chanting then her next spell will be a big one.” Yoshiko used “Energy Blade” and sliced the pillar into two then proceeded to lift them up. “Pulsing Star Blast!” Hanamaru finished her chant and now shot a huge star shaped laser beam towards her. Yoshiko quickly reinforced the pillars she had with earth and threw them up against the laser from Hanamaru. Both clash and Yoshiko was pushing as hard as she could to keep the laser from breaking through. Soon enough the pillar were destroyed and the laser fizzled out. Yoshiko saw Hanamaru pant a bit, and took the opportunity, “Ice Spike”, spikes of ice are now hurled towards Hanamaru. She didn’t have time to cast so she ended up running around to dodge. Yoshiko kept up the assault and Hanamaru had no time to fire off any spells.

Once, Hanamaru saw a slight opening from the rain of ice spikes, she quickly fired off a fireball. Yoshiko directed one spike at it and canceled it out. Sadly, this was enough time for Hanamaru to pull out a talisman and casted a “Spirit Shield” in front of her. Yoshiko attacked but they didn’t do anything to the shield. Hanamaru started another chant. Yoshiko knew the story and began to charge up. Thor’s Hammer” she shot a big surge of lighting towards Hanamaru. The crackling of lighting and the shield continue until the shield gave out. Yoshiko was about to cast again until she noticed Hanamaru’s figure looked a bit hazy. “Ghoul Cover” was the spell she casted, it’s a support like spell that makes the user’s figure hard to make out similar to fog. You can see it a bit, but you can’t tell what direction they were facing and what they are doing, only where they are going.

“Damn, this got more complicated. Hanamaru is holding up pretty well moving around. Her chants take time to complete and after a spell used with chant was casted there’s a bit of down time before she can cast more spells. Hm, should I aim for that down time? No, she is sure to have countermeasures to cover that part of her.” Yoshiko continued to think it through on how best to fight Hanamaru. While she was doing that Hanamaru fired wave after wave of attack spells. Fireballs and light beams rained steadily towards Yoshiko as she dodged an erected earth shields to protect herself. What makes it worse is that she can’t tell where exactly Hanamaru is looking at or if she already was in the middle of casting a spell. She could only see where she was going, but when she stopped is the tough part. “Hm wait, stop. That’s it. If she likes to stand in one place to cast spells then that’s what I’ll give her.”

Yoshiko quickly ran towards Hanamaru. She casted “Spectral Containment” and dark energy rose up and latched onto Hanamaru’s feet. All of a sudden her “Ghoul Cover” wore off and Yoshiko saw her chance. Hanamaru broke away from the containment and quickly casted “Fireball”. All while she pulled out another talisman and began her chant. “Easy” was what Yoshiko thought until the fireball dispersed into smaller ones covering a much wider area of attack. Yoshiko dodged rolled to avoid getting hit. Hanamaru finished her chant and now circles of light hover above her. “Uh oh” Yoshiko thought.

Yoshiko ran and ran as rains of light pour onto her. She would turn back and shoot ice spikes and lightning energy bolts when she can and missed right a couple of times. Hanamaru continued her approach. Soon a light grazes Yoshiko’s leg and she fell. “Crap”, Hanamaru slowly walked up and asked Yoshiko if she wanted to concede. Yoshiko looked like she was in a tough spot then she smirked. Hanamaru stopped then all of a sudden a wave of energy came from below her. It exploded and her left leg was now encased in a think block of ice. The circles of light disappeared and Hanamaru looked up to see Yoshiko begin shooting bolts at her. Hanamaru is now a sitting duck, having to constantly defend herself from Yoshiko. She could try to break free from the ice, but that would leave her open. Luckily Hanamaru prepared a chant already ahead of time while trying to corner Yoshiko. Waiting for the small window of time after Yoshiko attacked, “Itsumade’s Screech”, a giant flame in the shape of a bird came flying out. Yoshiko was ready, she quickly charged up, “Kuraokami’s Rage”, an ice beam in the shape of a dragon met the fire blast head on. The two attacks continued to clash as both users continued to pour energy into them, steam emanating from the clash. The flame started to weaken and eventually the ice blast broke through and Hanamaru was in no position to counter. The ice blast went straight at her, but at the last second shot up into the sky and an ice spike came flying at Hanamaru’s arm disarming her.

“Its my win.” Yoshiko said with a satisfied smile.

“I agree.” Hanamaru replied.

“Match over, winner Tsushima Yoshiko of Guilty Kiss.”  
A loud applause came from the stands, especially from Guilty Kiss. The ice encasing on Hanamaru’s leg melted and Yoshiko went over to her. They shook each other’s hand, bowed, and thanked each other for a good match. Then they walked back to the waiting room and received any medical treatment they needed to recover.

“That was a good idea from Yoshiko.” Kanan started the conversation.

“She noticed her initial plan was not working, so she decided to use what Hanamaru did best to her advantage.”

“Could you explain a bit more?” Chika asked. This time Dia explained.

“As you just saw, Yoshiko used a trap and lured Hanamaru into it without her noticing. How and when did that happen? Well her original plan was to tire Hanamaru out. Hanamaru probably figured that out, so she used spells that allowed her to move as little as possible while protecting her. This also gave her time to chant for her stronger spells. Yoshiko saw that and decided to use the fact that she stays stationary to her advantage. She first had to dispel the the cover Hanamaru had and she did that with her “Spectral Containment”. Then she went in knowing Hanamaru would counter with something to give her time to break free and prepare her next spell.” Kanan picked up and finished the explanation.

“When she dodged that horde of fireballs, she rolled on the ground and on the hand she stopped her roll with, placed her ice trap. Hanamaru couldn’t see it from the fireball and the fact that she was chanting. Then all that was left was to lead her into it by making her believe she had the advantage. Of course, Hanamaru’s path was not to the trap, so Yoshiko shot bolts and spikes at her. She aimed a bit to the right every now and then to get her to move in towards the trap. Once that was done, its simply her ice spell overpowered Hanamaru’s fire spell and she shot a spike just as that happened before Hanamaru could react.”

“I really want to see her skills now.” Dia remarked.

“Might be a bit early Dia, you’ll get a chance sometime later in the year probably.” Kanan patted Dia’s shoulders.

“So what now?” Riko wondered.

“We wait, a short break and the next match will be Yoshiko vs. Yo.” Kanan answered

“So soon?” Riko said worried.

“Yep, winners would normally get next match I small field like this. In the bigger ones, there will be longer breaks.”  
Back in the waiting room, Yoshiko was up and ready to go. She did run around quite a bit but the short break was more than enough for her. She looked to her left to see Yo warming up. When their eyes met Yo gave her the signature salute and winked. “Yep she’s ready.” Yoshiko thought. When they were called they both walked into the arena.

“I knew that girl would win. Guilty Kiss is best house.”

“Nico-chan, you were panicking a bit. You should be more confident in your residents.” Umi stated.

“Oh come on, you just have to teach. I have to care for them and their living situations since it reflects on me more. Go make out with Maki or something since you have so much free time.”

“I most certainly do not act so shamelessly in a school setting.”

“Umicchi, does that mean you do it outside of school?”

“Wha? I…why…you.. what I do with Maki is none of your concern.”

“Umi, you’re not helping our case here.” Maki sighed then looked at Nozomi. “Don’t act like you don’t do stuff with Eli on school grounds.”

“Oh but we do, and we don’t get embarrassed about it. That’s what makes it fun to mess with Umicchi, right Eli?” She looked over to Eli who was turning red.

“I..I think we should focus on the matches. It would look bad if we are seen goofing off.”

“There is nothing wrong with having fun nyaa! I enjoy walking around in my cat form.” Rin said while still in cat form standing on the guardrail next to Hanayo. Kotori was next to Hanayo giggling at the scene of her friends. Honoka was there, but she was busy scarfing down enormous amounts of bread next to Headmistress Kira.

“Next match is Yoshiko from Guilty Kiss vs. Yo from Cyaron. Are both contestants ready?” They both nodded. “Ready…..Begin!”

 

Omake:  
“Ready……begin!”

“Let’s Duel!!!” they both shouted. Hanamaru drew her wand and a gust of wind followed. She was about to cast a spell when she just now realized what Yoshiko was doing. Yoshiko was standing with 5 cards in her hand. There was a deck floating in midair next to her and she had her other hand in a position to draw a card. She then drew her card.

“What are you doing Tsushima-san.” Toudou asked her not understanding what the girl was doing.

“Isn’t it obvious, I’m dueling, time to send some people to the shadow realm.”

“Its not that kind of dueling.” She responded in an exhausted tone. Everyone in the audience had a blank stare. Riko was covering her face in embarrassment while the other Aqours members had looks of disappointment. You can hear the Guilty Kiss section laughing at their new member and playing along with her antics. It was clear they like Yoshiko. Yoshiko looked up at them and gave them a thumbs up, which elicited an even bigger reaction from them. Off to the faculty section, Nico was covering her face.

“I made a mistake; I should’ve chosen someone else. That girl is nuts.”

“Don’t worry Nicocchi, she’s enjoying herself. You know, she oddly reminds me of someone.” Nozomi said teasingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doing this, I just realize, I wanna do a MMORPG story with Aqours. Nothing too serious, just them playing an online game together, random chatter, random quests, etc. Should start looking into what classes I want each of them to be.


	7. Vs Yo

The battle started similar to the previous, both girls running around firing energy bolts at each other. The difference being Yo is in tip top shape and stamina will almost never be a problem for her. Yoshiko knew that this will be trouble. She have to end this match quick, the longer it draws out the more advantageous it would be for Yo. Yo knew this also and is prepared for a long drawn out battle. She’s more than happy to trade away shots. She also knew she should be careful, if last match was any indication, Yoshiko will think up some different plans to win. Yo soon picked up the pace and fired a flurry of bolts quicker than Yoshiko could. The bolts that weren’t shot down flew by the clashing and just missed Yoshiko. “Ice Spike” Yoshiko fired off spikes now and Yo responded with a water barrier. The spikes dissolved in the barrier, then from the barrier, Yo shot off focused blasts of water. Yoshiko ran and dodged the blasts but they just kept coming. Yoshiko ran around the field and Yo just followed with her barrier. The barrier continued to get smaller as she continues to shoot at Yoshiko.

Yoshiko then fired off lightning bolts planning on using the elemental property to her advantage. Yo saw this and quickly got away from her barrier before the bolt hit it sending electricity everywhere within a small radius. Yoshiko then stopped running, she pointed to her feet, “Shadow Boost”, dark energy started to build at her feet. She then leaned forward a bit and in an instant dashed towards Yo. With the boost, she was moving at a high speed. Yo, surprised at this tried to shoot her down with bolts of water but missed. Yoshiko was closing in, but then she lost her balance a bit and tripped, launching herself and accidently shoulder tackling Yo. Yoshiko continued to roll on the ground for a bit. Yo looked up and saw her wand in front of her. She got up and picked it up and fired off an energy stream. Yoshiko regained herself and did the same thing. Both their streams of energy clashed with one another, one trying to push the other back. “Ahhhhhhhhh!!” They both yelled in unison as they fought for control. This continued on for a while as both hers refused to let up. Soon an energy bulb began forming between their blasts. It grew and grew until it exploded. The force sent the two flying backwards. Yoshiko landed on her back. Yo on the other used the momentum to roll back onto her feet.

Yo closed her eyes and focus energy into her wand. “Torrential Wave”, water started pouring out of her wand. Slowly it built up as Yoshiko got up. As soon as Yoshiko got back up and looked towards Yo, she was done with prepping. Yo pointed her wand up and yelled as the water she drew out from her wand rose up and now a massive wave is heading straight towards Yoshiko.

“You got to be kidding me.” She shot off some blasts but nothing. “Holy craaaap!” She ran trying to think of a way to avoid this wave coming at her. She then saw a pillar and figured she should try to get on top of it and hopefully she won’t take too much damage. She prepared to do a “Shadow Boost” again but a sudden pain came to her head. During that brief moment, it was too late and the wave arrived and washed her away. A bunch of ooooh and ahhhhs coulds be heard from the stands. Yoshiko ended up getting slammed into a pillar. Once the wave ended, the entire field was drenched. Yoshiko was too.

‘Dammit, my clothes. Oh well at least this is my last match.’ As she got back up on her feet she saw Yo running, not towards her, but towards the hole in the ground Yoshiko made in the previous match. It was now filled with water. Yoshiko prepared to shoot a lighting blast her way but stopped realizing that with the field the way it is, she could potentially harm herself too. Yo jumped into the pool and stayed submerged for a bit. “Prowling Seiryu” Yo casted a spell and a water dragon emerged from the pool. It located its target and headed straight towards Yoshiko. What was surprising was that Yo was in the dragon also. Yoshiko dodged the first strike, but the dragon with Yo in tow turned around and headed her way again. ‘Wait, if she’s in the air now, I can use lighting.’ Yoshiko said to herself. She channeled and casted “Thor’s Hammer”. “Shifting Wave”, the water dragon dispersed and Yo dodged the lighting blast in mid air. Soon the water caught her and began to reform back into the dragon.

Yoshiko was in shock at what just happened. The dragon arrived and got a hit on Yoshiko. Yoshiko knew she got lucky, as she regained her senses in time to get out of the way a bit avoiding full damage. Now her left arm was hurt and she had to think of a way to deal with a dragon that Yo has control over. “I have to get to Yo, she is the source of that dragon. But how?” Yoshiko kept thinking to herself as she continued to be chased down by Yo. Yo then started to shoot out bullets of water. This added more to the stress of Yoshiko. Its basically run and gun now. Then Yoshiko thought up of something. She stopped and turned to face Yo and her dragon. Yoshiko breathed in and started to channel and Yo went straight in before anything could happen. “Breath of the Northern Thundra”, all of a sudden a huge typhoon of cold air shot out of Yoshiko’s wand. Yo was too close to shift and get out the way and collided with the typhoon. The sound of water sloshing about can be heard and Yo knew she can’t escape or the typhoon will catch her. She can only hope that her dragon survives the attack. Sadly, that wasn’t happening as cracks can be heard. Yo looked around and saw that her dragon was beginning to freeze. Before Yo could react, Yoshiko pumped up the power and within seconds the dragon froze with Yo frozen inside too.

“The winner is Tsushima Yoshiko of Guilty Kiss.” Roars can be heard from the crowd after witnessing a really good battle. Yoshiko unfroze Yo and helped her get up.

“I’d warm you up but I’m drenched from your wave attack. That was really cool what you did there.”

“Geez thanks, can’t believe I got caught and ended up frozen.” They shook hands, bowed, and thanked each other for a good match. When they returned to the waiting room Hanamaru hurried up to them with warm drinks to help them warm up. She also congratulated on a good fight.

“Thanks Zuramaru, I’ll go get changed now. I’m done so I’ll see you both at the stands when you’re done.”

“Yep, see ya Yoshiko-chan. Yousoro~.”

“See you soon zura.

When Yoshiko got to the stands the girls nearby applauded her for her display and getting for a sweep in her round. Yoshiko reveled at the praise and got to where the rest of Aqours was sitting.

“That was amazing Yoshiko-chan.” Riko hugged her and Yoshiko blushed.

“Good job Yoshiko-chan. You were cool.”

“Man, I thought Yo-chan got you there with her Seiryu. She normally doesn’t lose with that.”

“I’m impressed Yoshiko-san, you showed your abilities in battle nicely.”

“Dia here is really itching to spar with you now. Don’t excite her too much or she’ll hunt you down for a fight herself.”

“Shut it Kanan, I’m just interested that’s all.”  

“Thanks guys. They both were really good, I can see why they were picked for this…… Ummm can you ummm let go, or I can’t really sit down.” Yoshiko said slightly embarrassed with Riko still hugging her tight.

“Oh, yeah umm sorry, its just you won and.. I.. was happy!” That didn’t help stop the embarrassment anymore as a few whistles could be heard from the crowd behind them.

“Get a room you two.”

“They live together, didn’t you know”

“Oh they do, do they.”

Yoshiko and Riko quickly sat down hoping to end this embarrassing scene. As soon as the rom-com ended Hanamru and Yo came out into the arena. Parts of the arena have dried off and the body of water is still there. A matchup between Yo who likes to move around against Hanamaru who prefer to move only when necessary. The match was pretty even throughout. What turned the tides was the fact that Yo continuously attacked Hanamaru without a let up. Hanamaru did everything she can to prevent Yo from getting Seiryu up. Her beams of light dried up the field nicely, but Yo could spew out more attacks with water than Hanamaru could dry them with her light. Hanamaru let out one last attack hoping to stop Seiryu’s momentum but it failed and she loss.

“I’m so sorry for losing both matches. I am a disappointment to Azalea, zura.” Ruby quickly hugged her and comforted her.

“It is okay Hanamaru-san, you did your best and put up pretty good fights. This is just the first step, learn and grow from this and you’ll be fine.” Dia reassured her.

“We win some and we lose some, its just part of life. What matters is what you do after defeat.” Kanan added.

“Thank you, I won’t let you down zura.”


	8. Web Weaver

The duels were over and Guilty Kiss won the event. Azalea came in 2nd and Cyaron in 3rd. Mari made quick work of her opponents with little trouble. When she returned to the group they were going to the dining hall to get a late lunch. Mari held her arms out for a hug, from seeing Riko and Yoshiko, she figured she wanted a little love from her best friends. Kanan and Dia obliged and congratulated her on a job well done. They talked about the different things they saw during the duels. As they were walking Riko glanced over into the forest. She froze in place when she saw a womanly figure, with long black hair covering her face, in a white dress with splotches of what looks like blood on it. She was certain she had no face when her hair moved a bit from a slight breeze.

“Kyaaaaaaaaahhh!” She screamed and latched onto Yoshiko. Everyone wondered what was wrong.

“Riri, what are you screaming for?” Riko pointed in the direction of the forest. The others looked in that direction and they didn’t see it clearly like Riko did, but for sure they saw something there and then it disappeared.

“W-wh-what was that?” Ruby quickly hugged Dia’s arm.

“I don’t know, but we should let it be for now. Who knows what would happen if we pursue it now.” Kanan said and everyone nodded in agreement. As they entered the school, the girl with dead fish eyes was looking at them off in the distance. She then looked at the direction of other students then suddenly disappeared. The next few days flew by as they continued their school life. The 1st years were all able to learn flying within the month, so they didn’t need any more lessons. Yo in particular got the hang of it, which got Kanan’s attention.

“Hey Yo, let me ask you something real quick.”

“Sure Kanan-chan, what do you need?”

“You’re pretty athletic, are you joining clubs?”

“Nah, I love exercising, but I’d prefer hanging out with Aqours.”

“Oh, well I was thinking if you wanted to join Quidditch.”

“Hmmm.. I don’t know. And why are you recruiting me who’s from a different house.”

“Well yeah there are games against each other, but the real matches happen when we play against other schools. The best no matter which house they are from get chosen. Here, take this flyer. If you do get interested come by this location on the flyer.”

“Sure, no problem.”

It was a Friday in October, the 1st years just got out of history. Ayase-sensei had to lecture Chika and Yoshiko for not doing their homework. Riko and Yo kept apologizing for their sakes as this is somewhat a regular occurrence. Then they scolded the two after Ayase-sensei did. Dia joined in a little bit after. Just then they heard a scream, Ayase-sensei came running by them and they followed. When they arrived at the scene, there were students standing around trying to see what has happened. Umi, Maki, and Eli were there checking on a student who passed out in the corner of an underpass.

“What’s the diagnosis?”

“It would appear that she was poisoned. I’m trying to find the mode of entry but I might have to take her to my office to search the rest of her body.”

“Will she live?”

“She will, I’m sure I have an antidote for this type of poison. It’s a bit uncommon, but nothing I can’t handle. Just then her assistants came by with a stretcher and moved her to the Healers office with Maki and Umi following right after.

“All right you all stay safe and get back inside to your houses before nightfall.” Eli did crowd control and made sure everyone was alright. She also asked around to see if anybody knew anything.

Aqours crashed at Mari’s room enjoying some snacks and tea. The incident that happened was still fresh in their minds so they couldn’t help but talk about it. Chika let it slip that they found something strange earlier in the year. Dia and Kanan stared her down to get the truth out of her. She eventually cracked and told them everything they knew.

“So a branch showed up out of nowhere and it grew webs.”

“Yeah, its true. Hanamaru-chan has it.”

“Yeah, right here zura.”

“Wait you carry that around with you?”

“You never know, zura.”

“A branch from the Jirach tree is what Koizumi-sensei said. It grows deep in the forest northeast of here.”

“We should just try to stay safe. We know too little to do anything ourselves and even if we did know enough, we should trust our teachers can handle it.” Kanan recommended.

“But there are too many students compared to the number of teachers, there is no way they can handle it all on their own while running a school.” Chika argued.

“Why not investigate it, if it’s out of our league then we can tell one of the teachers.”

“Smart idea Yoshiko-chan. Let’s do that. Please?” Chika pleaded.

“No means no and we will not have this discussion anymore.” Dia said in a more authoritative tone.

“Please, understand that we want to keep you all safe.” Mari added to calm everyone down.

“Fiiiine. You win.” Chika pouted as she ate her mikans.

“Now with that settled, I suggest we all return to our rooms. Hanamaru, you’re more than welcome to come over to our room and eat dinner.” Dia suggested.

“I would love to. Thank you.”

“Yo-chaaaaan, cook us something good.”

“No problem Chika-chan. Is there something you want to eat Ruby?”

“I’m fine with whatever you make.”

Everyone soon returned to their rooms. Mari offered snacks for everyone to take with them since she had more than enough. Yoshiko and Riko got back to theirs and relaxed in their usual spots. They couldn’t believe what happened today and it only added to the stress of school. Riko asked Yoshiko what she wanted to eat and Yoshiko said curry. She got up and started preparing it. With curry, she remembered to make Yoshiko’s spicy and kept her’s mild.  Her cooking got better, but it still lacked the full flavor of what the dishes were supposed to have. Yoshiko didn’t care, anything Riko made she would eat.

“What do you think about the incident Yocchan?”

“If I had to guess, maybe a spider bite.”

“True, webs on a branch and poison does connect to a spider. But we don’t know how the girl got poisoned yet.”

“Well I imagine the girl got a bite somewhere under her clothes, which makes me think it’s a spider bite since they can be small and get to you that way. My question is what kind since Nishikino-sensei said the poison was a bit uncommon.”

“I feel like we should do something, what if more students get hurt.”

“It’s just one student and we’re probably reading too much into this.”

“What about… that thing we saw just after the duels ended?”

“Nobody seems to have seen it themselves and we haven’t seen it since then.”

“I guess you’re right, we can’t freak out over one case.” They finished up dinner and Riko remembered to check and see if Yoshiko did her homework. It has become a routine now to make sure said Fallen Angel has done it or they’ll be lectured more and more throughout the year. Of course, Yoshiko insists that Riko helps her, which usually meant copy her work.

The very next day Ruby decided to go to the flower garden. She wanted to pick some flowers and make something for her sister. She ran into some students who worked the gardens and asked for their suggestions. Once she was done she started to return to her dorm. She turned a corner at an archway and almost bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“………”

“Um, Hello?”

“…….”

“If you’re mad, I-I’m sorry for almost crashing into you.”

“……” Nothing there was just a deadpan look. The girl walked pass ruby not before lightly tapping her shoulder scaring the girl.

“Pigiiii!” Ruby turned around and just watched as the girl disappeared into a school building. “Weird.” She then hurried back to her room and started to make her gift to Dia. The deadpanned girl continued her walk and she see two girls sitting on a bench talking. She hid in a corner and watched. When they got up and walked away the girl still stood there for a bit then walked away. As night fell Ruby was getting ready to sleep. She had finished her gift for Dia and wanted to give it to her tomorrow. She giggled to herself and eventually dozed off.

Yo was in her room finishing up her latest model ship. She wanted to finish it soon so she can move onto the next one. Then she’d be done with the ones she got and can begin hunting for more. “Wheew, what time is it?” She looked over at the clock. “Wow, 3am. I should really go to sleep.” She blew out the candles and got ready for bed. Just as she started to fall asleep a loud scream was heard.

“Pigiiiiiii!”. It startled Yo and she quickly ran to Ruby’s room. Chika was doing the same thing as she saw her open Ruby’s door. They saw Ruby hiding under her covers.

“Ruby-chan are you okay?” Yo asked as she got closer to Ruby to calm her down. This only made her scream again and shiver. What can be heard was her cry for Dia.

“Onee-chan, onee-chan, onee-chan.”

“Hey Ruby we’re here for you, why don’t you tell us whats wrong.” Chika tried to get her to speak, but it didn’t work. She continued to cry for Dia and they agreed to call her on the CO. Dia rushed over as quickly as she could and found Ruby shaking nervously and crying. She ran over and hugged her saying “Onee-chan is here Ruby,” Ruby kept crying for her and Dia would respond with the same thing as before and stroked Ruby’s back. Ruby would eventually fall asleep and Dia walked out and spoke with Yo and Chika.

“So what exactly happened?”

“We don’t know, Ruby-chan just suddenly screamed and she was crying and shaking when we found her.”

“She never answered our questions about what was wrong and just kept crying.”

“Strange, I’ll sleep over here for the rest of the night to keep an eye on her.” Chika and Yo agreed and Dia slept with Ruby. Ruby stayed asleep through the rest of the night. When she woke up, she was startled to find her sister with her. She asked her why she was sleeping in her room. Dia responded by telling her that she wanted to keep watch over Ruby. Ruby blushed, she then realized that she wanted to give Dia a gift before she left.

“Umm Onee-chan.”

“Yes Ruby?”

“I wanted to give you this.” She handed over a bracelet with white angelica and white carnations seemingly made into it. “Its to say that you inspire me to keep moving forward and I love you for being my sister. I want to become a little sister that you can be proud of, so I’ll keep trying my best.” Dia felt warm she went over to Ruby and hugged her.

“Thank you Ruby. You are already someone I’m proud of, so don’t ever think you’re good enough. No matter what, I’ll always support you.” The sisters shared a long embrace, before Dia realized that she needs to return to her room. They said their farewells and Dia thanked Chika and Yo for watching over Ruby.

The incident that happened with Ruby wasn’t the last. A few days passed and more and more students were screaming in their sleeps. Some never woke up from their sleep, they weren’t dead, but they were in some kind of deep slumber. The teachers were doing their best to contain the situation to keep the students from panicking. In the Healers Office, Maki checked patient after patient growing frustrated at what’s happening. Umi assisted her and tried to keep her calm. There were a few instances were some of the victims also had been poison. Maki was able to discover what the mode off entry was; it would appear that the poison entered through a bite mark. The discerning thing was that the wound was covered up to appear like nothing was there. It took some effort for Maki to find the bite mark as she had to find inconsistency in the victim’s skin. Patrols were established and curfew was enforced until the situation was solved.

One day, Aqours was hanging out in Kanan’s and Dia’s room. At the front door there was a rack with some scuba gear to the left. Continuing to the left was the bathroom and laundry area. Up from, there were one door that was Kanan’s room. Then there was one door over on the far side that led to Dia’s room. The dining room was in the right corner and kitchen to the bottom right. They were discussing all these incidents, Chika, Yo, and Yoshiko were trying to find a way to help out while the 2nd years continue to deny them. Riko, Hanamaru, and Ruby could only watch as the arguments continued. Then all of a sudden Ruby stood up.

“Ruby-chan whats wrong?” Hanamaru asked.

“……” Nothing, just a blank stare.

“Hey Ruby-chan are you okay?”Riko tried to help.

“……” Still nothing. Soon enough the other 6 noticed and Dia was walking up to check on Ruby then it happened again.

“Pigiiiiiii!” Ruby quickly cowered and started crying again. Repeating everything from the night it started all over again. Everyone rushed over to check on Ruby. Dia did all she could to get Ruby to calm down. Then Ruby started to speak;

“Please don’t die Onee-chan…… I’m sorry……. I’ll be good….. Don’t die….. Don’t die”

“I’m here Ruby, I won’t die. What is it that makes you think I’ll die?” Ruby could only repeat her previous statements causing real worry among the group. “Girl……walking…forest…..deadpan… walking…web”, this statement got the girls attention.

“What girl?”

“What are you talking about Ruby-chan?”

“Did this girl do this to you? I’ll make her pay if she did. Who and where is she?” Anger is building up in Dia. Mari and Kanan tried to calm her down knowing full well what her wraith could entail especially if it concerned her little sister.

“She said forest and web. Could she mean the branch and the forest where the Jirach Tree was?” Yoshiko inquired.

“Isn’t that also where we saw that strange figure?”

“Then that’s where I will go. I’ll show this person what happens if you mess with my little sister.” Dia barged out of the room, intent on finding the perpetrator. Kanan and Mari rushed after her and soon everyone followed. When the 1st years caught up, they found Kanan and Mari holding Dia back, but Dia was making steady progress towards the exit towards the forest.

“Dia, if you do anything rash it would spell trouble.”

“For this girl you mean. She’ll be lucky if I spare her life.”

“Dia if you left, what will happen to Ruby. You’re the only person that can calm her down from this.” With that statement Dia stopped. She looked down anger swelling up. She then looked at her 2 best friends then she looked over towards the 1st years and more specifically Ruby who has returned to normal now.

“Ruby.” Dia said deep in thought. Ruby blushed and looked away, but then she noticed a girl walk into the forest. She quickly pointed it out;

“T-that’s her, that’s the g-girl I bumped into and she was t-the one I saw walk into the forest.” The group looked over and saw what Ruby saw. Then in a flash Dia ran after her and Aqours followed suit.

“Dia, we’ll be in big trouble” Kanan said panting as they ran after her.

“I don’t care, if it can stop Ruby from having nightmares then I’ll break all the rules.” Aqours all ran into the forest, Dia intent on finding the cause for Ruby’s distress and the rest in fear that something bad could happen to Dia if she went alone.


	9. Web Weaver Pt.2

_‘A fly that dances carelessly in front of the spider’s web, risks the wrath of the spider’s teeth.’_

_-African Proverb_

Aqours was heading steadily deep in the northeastern forest. The 2nd years were in front with Dia on point. Ruby was in the middle encircled by them and the rest of the 1st years. All of them had their wands drawn in case something happens. They were not sure how far in they were but, it got dark and they couldn’t see any exits. They walked along pathways where there weren’t many trees in the way. The atmosphere was tense, they could’ve headed back a while ago, but Dia was intent on seeing this through. Deeper they headed into a forest on guard for any danger that might come. Leaves crackling under their feett, slight wind blowing, branches swinging. As they continued, a raspy feminine whisper came

“Fools, to chase prey this deep into a forest. You should’ve left when you had the chance.”

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Dia commanded.

“Hehehe, and why would I do that stupid girl.”

“Are you the one that did this to Ruby?”

“Yeah, and the other students too?” Chika added

“Hahaha, I was only looking for sustenance. No harm in that.”

“Well you messed with the wrong person. Come out so I can kill you.”

“Tsk tsks, a little hotheaded are we. It was not my fault some of these girls are so weak minded where all it took was a little flick here and there to get them into a nightmarish slumber. Once they fell into the trap, it was all too easy to mark them with poison. Then all I do is wait as the nightmare and poison kill them. Easy food.”

“You will not get Ruby!”

“Oh but I will, she is already marked. You just made it easier by bringing her to me. Soon you all will be joining her. A feast for me and it just walked right into my web willingly. Hehehehe.” After the voice disappeared, the girls looked everywhere for where the source could come from.

“She’s just messing with us now.” Dia remarked in a frustrated tone.

“It would be easier if we knew where her voice was coming from. All I can see is nothing but trees.” Mari said. Just then a figure of a girl caught Kanan’s eyes.

“Over there, there was someone heading off in that direction.” Everyone headed in the direction Kanan pointed too. The walk continued for a while, fatigue is starting to set in.

“Can we take a break? I feel like we’ve been walking for hours.” Chika complained.

“No, if we did then we would probably be dead. That thing is probably waiting for an opening to strike.”

“Agreed, we must stay diligent” Dia and Kanan lead on with Mari right behind them. She was checking something in her pouch for some reason. The 1st years followed right after. They spotted a dim light behind a crowd of trees and went towards it. Eventually, they ended up at a small lake that had a slight glow. Dia looked around the area and spotted a peculiar looking tree.

“Is that the Jirach Tree you were talking about?” She pointed in the direction of the web covered tree.

“Yeah it is zura!” They looked at it and walked towards it. They stopped after seeing what was beneath it. At the foot of the tree were animal bones and some blood splatter. The 2nd years got ready in case something jumped at them. Then the familiar voice returned and it was close enough for them to pinpoint its direction. They turned around to see a woman that scared Riko a while back. Black hair covering a faceless face and a white dress covered in red splatter.

“Welcome” she said.

“So you finally showed yourself. Hope you’re prepared to die.” Dia said.

“I don’t think it will be me that urgh dying oghh, todaaaayyy!.” The women transformed. Her abdomen enlarged into a bulbous shape and legs grew from it. Her faceless face, now has eyes and a mouth with fangs appeared. Similar smaller beings came down from the trees. Dia, Kanan, and Mari rushed in front of the 1st years to shield them. “The name is “Jurogumo” and I’ll be killing today.” With a command her minions attacked.

The 2nd years fired of energy bolts at the group of minions. Fire, water, lightning, and regular energy were mixed in their flurry of blasts. Some were hit while others dodged. Then some of them spit webs in their direction only to be met with bolts of energy. The 1st years watched until they noticed more groups showed up from the left side. They got ready and started to fight joining in on the barrage of bolts. When a few minions died, there was a clear path to Jurogumo and Dia charged right in.

“Dia!” Kana rushed in with Dia.

“You girls stay together, I gotta help them.” Mari commanded her juniors before she followed after.

Unfortunately for them more minions showed up. One jumped at them from behind which split the group. Then more came out and pushed Chika and Yo away. Chika and Yo were now to the left side of the lake as more came pouring in. Hanamaru prepared a spirit barrier to keep Ruby safe as she was not use to this big a fight. Ruby did her best casting fireballs at any minion she could see. Hanamaru prepared a chant, “Spirit Soul”, she pointed her wand up and 3 circles of light appeared above her, the very ones that she used against Yoshiko. The barrier disappeared and she started firing lasers at the spiderlings. Yoshiko and Riko were not that far away from Hanamaru and Ruby. They were about twenty or so feet to the bottom left of them. “Sakura Storm”, Riko slashed her wand horizontally and a storm of light pink shards speared and mowed down the horde in front of her.

“I thought you said you suck at fighting?”

“I never said I didn’t know how to.” Sure enough Yoshiko was impressed. “Ice Pillar”, a pillar of ice appeared blocking a path towards them and damaging any minions caught on it. “Damn, Chika and Yo are too far from us… HEY! Try to work your way back towards us. We’ll cover you the best we can.”

“Chika-chan, Yoshiko-chan is right, we need to regroup or we’ll be overwhelmed.”

“Ok!” they both stood back to back and started to slowly move towards the others. Yo shot off water bullets while Chika shot of regular bolts. Soon Chika casted a charged bolt at a tree and it collapsed onto a group of minions. They saw this as an opening and picked up their pace. When they looked away a minion jumped over the tree and shot webbing that caught Chika’s leg. She fell and screamed as she was getting dragged back toward the minions.

“Chikaaaaaaa!!” Yo stopped and ran towards Chika. She shot some bullets at the spiders to buy some time. Chika was trying to cut the webbing, but it was too thick so she had to charge up for a bigger spell.

“Dammit, Riri stay near with Zuramaru and Ruby.” Yoshiko quickly rushed over to Yo and Chika, shooting down any spiderlings in her way. Riko didn’t get a chance to say anything before she ran off and hurried towards the other two to help out.

“Cut the web!”

“I’m trying!” Yo was busy shooting down spiderlings and figuring out how to get the web off Chika. She was too busy to notice one jump from behind her. Chika saw it too late and could only scream “Yo-chaaaaaaan!” Yo turned to see the minion inches away from her. Bang! An ice spike impaled it through chest then another through the head. The momentum of the spike knocked it away.

“Sorry, I hurried as fast as I could.”

“Yoshiko-chan!” They both exclaimed in relief. The problem still remained as Chika was being slowly pulled in my the minion. Yoshiko used “Thor’s Hammer” and neutralized the source. More came out from above and shot more webbing at them. They dodged as best they could, but Yoshiko’s left arm got caught. Then another added onto the same arm.

“Yoshiko-chan!” Chika screamed.

“Don’t worry. Yo get Seiryu up.”

“What? I need a water sour.. oh right the lake. On it.” Yo headed towards the lake. Chika fought off the horde while sticking to Yoshiko as she got dragged in.

“Didn’t want to use this, “Shadow Blade”, her hand and wand was covered in dark energy and a blade formed from it. She cut the webbing that was tough to cut. The dark aura ate away at the webs.

“The lake is poisoned. I can’t use Seiryu.”

“What?” The lake was now a purplish color. Yoshiko could not believe it. “Create a new water source!”

“No good, it’ll be contaminated with poison also.”

“We should get back to the group, then we can figure something out.” Chika reminded them and they slowly made their way toward the others.

Hanamaru was tiring down now. Keeping “Spirit Soul” and “Spirit Shield” up at the same time was draining her of stamina fast. “Coup De Grace”, Riko summoned a giant fist of energy and it knocked back a group of enemies. Ruby told Hanamaru to drop the shield as it draining her stamina too quick. Hanamaru refused but saw the determination in her eyes and dropped the shield. Ruby stood beside her and shot a ball of light into the air that exploded. “Illuminlight”, a flare like spell made to temporarily blind enemies. The light distracted the minions for a bit, “Phoenix Spiral”, Ruby shot of a spiral flame and burned some of the spiderlings.

Chika, Yo, and Yoshiko were almost there until a group jumped out in front of them. They cursed their luck as they came close to reuniting with the others. The spiders attacked first and the girls worked together to dispatch of the group. “Grasping Roots”, Chika aimed at the ground and roots shot up and ensnared the spiders. Yoshiko and Yo shot down the immobilized enemies. As the 1st years continue their fights a sudden scream could be heard from across the lake.

“AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“DIAAAAA!!!!”

They all looked in the direction of the screams. What Ruby saw was her nightmares coming true as she fell to her knees and started to cry.

“Onee-chan… no please…… ONEE-CHAAAAN!”

There on the other side of the lake, Jurogumo held Dia biting deep into her shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might be a bad spot to stop, but it was late when I wrote this and wanted to sleep
> 
> Research some random things to come up with names is a pain but interesting


	10. Web Weaver Pt.3

_2 nd Years perspective:_

The 2nd years chased Jurogumo to the other side of the lake. Mari looked back and saw that the minions are increasing in numbers and are starting to separate the 1st years. Kanan turned back and told her that they should trust them and focus on the matter at hand. Mari didn’t like the idea of leaving them to fight on their own with the numbers they are up against, but she had to take Kanan’s word for it. Jurogumo stopped and turned around to fire off some webbing. Dia dodged it and shot a fireball at her. The fireball hit but didn’t do much damage.

“Tough skinned are we?”

“You’ll need tough skin once I bite down on you all and feast on you.”

“Aqua Bomb”, Kanan conjured up a ball of water from her wand and hurled it at Jurogumo. She didn’t think too much of it and let it hit her. The water ball retracted then expanded at full force exploding. Simmering hot water was a byproduct of the attack and there was a slight burn on Jurogumo’s back hand. “Thunder Rush”, Mari followed up with 5 quick beams of energy. When they hit their mark they expanded on impact with the force of thunder pushing Jurogumo back a bit.

“So, you’re not all talk. Good I like it when my prey fights back a bit.” She licked her lips as she readies for the fight. Screams for Chika could be heard and they glanced over real quick. “Hey, don’t lose focus.” Jurogumo charged through them like a bull with strong force. The 2nd years got out of the way and she missed. She came to a stop, turned, and continued her charge. “Fox Fire”, Dia waved her wand around her and conjured up balls of fire around her. They then started spinning around her real fast and shot straight at the enemy. They had little effect as she went right through them.

“He.he.he, is that all your fire is good fo...” She stopped as the force from “Fox Fire” increased. Soon her momentum completely stopped as the barrage kept coming from Dia casting “Fox Fire” again and sending them in with more force. Kanan and Mari took this opening to jump to the side and started to cast their spells. “Enough!” Jurogumo blew away the fire with a roar, shot webs at both Kanan’s and Mari’s feet and swung them into each other. Then she lifted up her front leg and a spell was being casted. “A stream of flame came out at Dia, she jumped to the side only to be met by Jurogumos fist as she connected a punch to her stomach. Jurogumo was about to smash Dia with both hands clasped together, until Mari shot at her back with a lightning bolt. Jurogumo picked up Dia and threw her at Mari. Kanan quickly morphed some water into a cushion to catch Dia and placed her back down.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me.”

“Alright, get ready for round 2.”

Jurogumo now lifted up her 2 front legs and they both started to cast a spell. Fire came out of one and lightning out the other. The girls dodged and started running around. Jurogumo went after Kanan this time. She shot webs, fire, and lighting at Kanan, chasing her around the area. With whatever time she had Kanan was able to fire of some more aqua bombs. Jurogumo stopped chasing then shot two webs with one slightly delayed. The first shot right in front of Kanan’s face forcing her to stop. When she was about to move the second, was noticeably more condense, hit the mark and wrapped around Kanan’s throat. Kanan choked as she was getting pulled in. A sudden bright light lit up behind Jurogumo as she looked back it was Dia. “Phoenix Flare” a giant phoenix was coming right at Jurogumo. She jumped but her arms was pulled another direction as she saw both Mari and Kanan pulling on the webbing that she was using. The attack hit and did some damage. Mari quickly ran casting a spell in the process and slid under the spider before firing “Raiju Cannon” and a huge lightning bolt came out at point blank range in a wide area. The shot almost started to lift Jurogumo until she strengthens her resolve and grabbed Mari from underneath her.

“What?”

Jurogumo pulled Mari up and blasted lightning bolt at Mari’s stomach at point blank range. Mari coughed out some blood and the attacked continued. Kanan rushed in “Rock Spike”, a spike of rock formed above Jurogumo’s body and slammed down on her causing her to release Mari. Dia caught Mari and ran to Kanan. Just as she was doing that, she pointed her wand down beneath Jurogumo and shot off  “Earth Pillar” sending Jurogumo into the air.

“Mari, are you okay?”

“Hah..hah. yeah, just give me a second. That thing is tough.” She clutched her abdomen where the wound is.”

“She’s tough, but I’m sure some damage is going through. If we keep attacking together, there should be an opening we can take advantage of.” Kanan said while still deep in thought.

“Get ready, here she comes.” Dia looked towards a now enraged Jurogumo. Jurogumo now opened her mouth and shot out a poison. The 2nd years got out the way and saw some steam coming out of the ground as it wilts away. They split up and got ready for more.

“Heavy Geyser”, Kanan shot a whirlpool of water at the spider but it jumped out of the way. The water kept going and cut through a few trees. “Meteor Smash” Dia raised her wand up and a small meteor came crashing down at the enemy. The impact caused a crater and would’ve done some real damage had Jurogumo not pulled herself out of the way with her web. Mari was charging up from just outside the battlefield. Dia and Kanan kept Jurogumo distracted enough not to notice. When Jurogumo had her back turned to Mari she was ready to fire.

“Shiniiiiiiiiing……” The bright light came up and Jurogumo turned around to locate the source.

“Nebulaaaaaa!” Mari fired off a light and lightning infused beam which engulfed Jurogumo. The beam continued through some trees. When the beam ended there stood Jurogumo, bleeding and panting from the attack. Her arms had burn marks and that was when Kanan called Dia and Mari over.

“Let’s use that.”

“That? Is Mari okay enough to use it?”

“Its Okay!! Lets just end this now. Any longer and we’ll lose.”

The three stood side by side, closed their eyes, and started to cast their spells. “Forged Webbing” Jurogumo shot webbing onto herself and the layers stacked upon each other with each cycle of webbing. Her body is now incased in thick layers of webbing. She then fired heat around herself to harden it. Once ready, she looked over at the 2nd years. They were ready; they opened their eyes, held onto their wands with both hands and fired at the spider.

“Pyro….”

“Hydro..”

“Electo…”

“Tri-color Novaaaaa!!!!” They fired off a 3 element wave cannon straight at their enemy. It hit Jurogumo as she tries to block it. She was engulfed in the blast as her scream could be heard. The 2nd years kept pouring their strength into the attack, slowly tiring themselves out.

“Is it over?”

“I don’t know, but we can’t keep this up.”

“Put all of your energy into it.” They screamed for one last push. The beam got larger as they go for one last push. Then arms came out from the beam with fangs in hand and stabbed Kanan and Mari the force breaking their attack and sent them away. They screamed in agony of the poisoned fang jabbed into their sides. Dia was frozen in shock as Jurogumo stared her down. She was bleeding and definitely burnt all over. She was huffing from fatigue, but there was a glint in her eyes as she knows that she was about to win.

“Dia ruuunnn! *cough” Kanan coughed out blood trying to urge her friend to run. It had no effect as Jurogumo grabbed Dia and began crushing her with her hands.

“AHHHHHHH!”

“That’s right scream, it’ll be the last anybody hears of you. Once you die from my poison, I’ll be sure to treat your little sister nicely.” Jurogumo licks her lips, opens her mouth and bites down into Dia’s shoulder.

“AGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“Diaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”


	11. Web Weaver Pt.4

All Ruby could do was muster cries as she sees her sister beaten by Jurogumo. After being bitten Jurogumo threw her onto the ground and stared at her prey. Hanamaru called to Ruby to no avail as the fatigue has set in and she can now barely fight efficiently. Riko was tiring out too. She casted sakura storm one after another but the waves just keep coming. Some of them just keep getting up as they avoid fatal blows. Yoshiko, Chika, and Yo did everything they could to keep them from getting surrounded. The fight was looking dire as the 2nd years were beaten.

“Diaaaa.” Mari crawled over to Dia.

“Its too late for her. You will join her next.” She inched her way towards Mari then and blast of water hit her. She turned around to see and angered Kanan. Juromugo went towards Kanan and they continued battle.

“Dia hang in there for me, I can urggh help.” Mari now sitting next to Dia dug through her small pouch. She pulled out a vial containing anti-venom. She poured it into Dia’s bite mark and she screamed in pain as it hissed on the wound. Mari then applied some to her own wound and gritted her teeth as it burned her. Kanan was barely able to fight, she was tired and the poison wasn’t helping. Her movements were sluggish and her spells lacked the punch they had earlier. Jurogumo caught Kanan with a punch to the stomach. As Kana kneeled in pain, Jurogumo picked Kanan up and threw her towards Mari and Dia.

“Kanan!” Mari screamed as she landed next to them.

“Fools, my poison will not be cured by some measly antidote.”

“ONEE-CHAAAAN!” Ruby got up and in desperation ran towards her sister.

“Ruby-chan no.. Ahhhhh!” Hanamaru tried to stop Ruby, but in that moment she let her guard down, a spiderling jumped on her trying to bite her. She did all she could to keep it at bay.

“Hanamaru-chan!!” Ruby looked and saw her best friend pinned. Riko saw that Hanamaru was in trouble and went to help, but that too left an opening and a spiderling was able to grab her leg and bit her.

“AHHHHH!”

“Riko-chan!! Yo and Chika screamed together. Yoshiko looked up and fear set in as she saw Riko being bitten.

“Nonononononono!!!!” She ran towards Riko and a surge of anger welled up.

“Yoshiko-chan wait!” Chika followed after Yoshiko but Yo tackled her, before webbing flew past them.

“Damn, how many of these are there.” Yo helped Chika up and they continued to fend off their enemies. 

Riko panted as the sting of the bite hits her and the poison slowly started to affect her. She reached for her wand as the spiderling prepared for the next bite while a few more closed in. As it was ready to lunge in, a black ice spike hit its head killing it. Then more spikes were shot at the other spiderlings, followed by an ice pillar blocking the path to Riko. Yoshiko rushed over to Riko’s side panicking. She looked at Riko and then to her leg. She didn’t know what to do so she only did what could think of in that moment. She pulled down Riko’s stocking exposing her leg and pressed her lips on the bite.

“Yocchan what are you… Hiiiii, hmphhhh.” Yoshiko started sucking on her leg. Yoshiko didn’t know if this would work, sucking out poison, but she doesn’t want Riko to die so it was worth a shot. Riko watched Yoshiko try desperately to save her, a strange feeling was building up in her heart.

Ruby could only watch in horror. Everything seemed to slow down as fear take over her senses. She looked back and forth between Dia and Hanamru, not knowing what to do. Chika and Yo were starting to make their way over to the 2nd years. Yoshiko was trying to keep Riko safe. Ruby saw Yoshiko stand up and she was trying to do something. “Please, someone.. Please”. Yoshiko wasn’t thinking at this point, she put both hand onto her wand, one hand over the other. She pointed it at Jurogumo and began charging her spell. This feeling welling up inside her, pushing her to do something, ignoring the headache that was building up. The colors of her eyes begin to dim. As energy gathers, black lightning started sparking out from her wand. Crackles can be heard and Riko watched wondering what Yoshiko was going to do. Kanan and Mari are now covering Dia on one knee as they stared at Jurogumo, slowly approaching them ready for the kill. Before Jurogumo could prepare her next attack; 

“KEEEEAAARRRRHHHHH!” A loud screech came flying through the forest. Yoshiko stopped her charge and everyone looked in the direction of the screech. A hawk made from sharp gusts of air came soaring through. As it flies by, all spiderlings in its path were sliced apart as it sent howling gust through the field. It then hit Jurogumo dead on and sent her flying into a tree, the force cutting Jurogumo every which way. Eventually the tree snapped, Jurogumo hit the ground, and the tree fell on top of her.

“You all have some nerve leaving campus when we established that you all can’t go anywhere without reporting it.” Out came Minami Kotori with a disappointed look on her face.

“Thank goodness someone noticed y’all were missing and told us about it nyaa!”

“Hmph, Hanayo told us about the branch yall brought so we figured out where to look. Be grateful the amazing Nico is here to save you.”

The three Housemistresses have appeared. Aqours stared in shock at their appearance. Rin and Nico dispatched the remaining spiderlings around the 1st years. When they confirmed that they were okay Kotori quickly summoned another giant bird of wind and picked her, Rin, and Nico up towards the 2nd years. Jurogumo removed the tree off of her and got up slowly trying to recover from the hit she took. When she regained her senses and looked up the 3 Housemistresses was standing above her with wands pointed.

“You have two options; turn yourself in and help us cure the students, or die and we’ll get the cure the other way.” Nico stated in a hostile tone.  Jurogumo only frowned as she knew what she was gonna do and it was not giving up. She lunged at them in desperation.

“Panther Lily”

“Grave Talon”

“Crimson Scythe”

The three called upon slash based spells and vanquished Jurogumo. Once confirmed that she was dead, the Housemistresses got over to Aqours to check up on the severity of their injuries. The 2nd years were patched up and were assisted by Chika, Yo and Ruby as they began to walk. The housemistresses escorted them out of the forest and into the Healers Office. Looks of concern were seen across the students as they watched Aqours walk through the school with bruises and injuries from their battle. The faculty figured that they are exhausted and need to rest so they let Aqours be for a while. Dia, Kanan, Mari and Riko were cured of the poison. Thanks to extracting the venom from Jurogumo, Maki was able to make a cure for all the affected students. Even the ones who were in deep slumber were cure. All students were made to take the medicine for safety reasons,

After a few days to recover, Aqours was called into the faculty chambers. They stood in a horizontal line in front of the staff. There was a heavy air in the room and they were sure there was some killer aura coming from Umi and Eli. It was silent until Kousaka Honoka, Head Chef, spoke up.

“Ummm you girls are in a lot of trouble for the stunt you pulled. And umm as punishment no bread for a month for you.”

“Uh Honoka-chan, I don’t think that’s what we are trying to go for.”

“Really? Hmmm….. no rice then!”

“That’s so cruel! What’s life without rice?”

“Ok, enough you two.” Umi spoke up “You girls clearly broke the rules. Sneaking off campus and engaging a dangerous criminal. Also from what Hanayo said, it would seem you’ve been doing something for a while now, no?”

“Punishment must be in order for you. Though I’m sure almost dying is punishment enough, we should at least give you something to deter such actions.”

“Elicchi, no need to add more on their plates, they did help solve the problem. Now you girls understand the severity of your actions right?”

“Yes maam.” Aqours said in unison.

“Good. We’ll just give you girls detention or something. You’re dismissed.”

They all sighed in relief and started to leave. They stopped when an ominous aura came up from behind them.

“Dia-san, Kanan-san you were their seniors and you didn’t follow the rules that were in place. Is that anyway to show your underclassman what good students are?” Dia and Kanan slowly turned their heads to see Kotori hands behind her back smiling at them. Shivers ran through their bodies.

“Um… well….see……they.” Kotori hushed them then turned to Mari.

“What about you Mari-san.” Mari was sweating; it was not a shiny moment for them right now.

“Nico-chan said she let me reprimand you along with Dia-san and Kanan-san, so I hope to find you three in my office soon.”

Mari looked over to Nico who just smiled and shrugged.

“OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” was all Mari could think of at this moment. The 1st years saw the fear in their eyes and made a mental note to never cross Kotori.

“Mirai ja nai, zura”


	12. Yoshiko & Riko

A few days has passed since their meeting with the faculty. Aqours had to serve detention, but it wasn’t anything to worry about. School continued free from the lockdown rules in place. Students were happy and enjoying themselves, not having to worry about anything dangerous.  A few more house events have happened involving races and quidditch. Cyaron won the races behind Yo’s amazing run, chasing down Kanan and passing her at the final turn. Azalea won quidditch with Kanan scoring the most points and building a sizable lead before the golden snitch was caught in both games. The current standings have Azalea with a slight lead over Guilty Kiss and Cyaron close behind. The next events were “Sphere Shot” and the “Scholar Games”. “Sphere Shot” was similar to skeet shooting where the goal is to shoot down the moving object with your wand. Energy bolts are the only attack allowed. Their targets were orbs of varying sizes and speeds. “Scholar Games” test academics and general knowledge. Riko decided to study some as she was told that she was on the list as a possible participant in the “Scholar Games”.

“You should stop studying and join me in lazing around.”

“No thanks. This is my first competition representing Guilty Kiss, I don’t want to let everyone down. Yazawa-sensei doesn’t view me as highly as you or Mari.”

“Whose fault was it to call her a little girl?”

“You would’ve done the same thing if you were in my position.”

“No, I’d probably just walked in ignoring her. Too much of a hassle.” Yoshiko began to creep up on an un-expecting Riko as she was busy reading over some books.

“Hmph, you would probably still be ye-eellllll!?” Riko screeched the last bit of her sentence.

“Hah wha wha what hahaha are you hmhmhm doing Yocchan?” Yoshiko grabbed a hold of Riko by the waist and started tickling her.

“Helping you relax, you won’t win if you stress out too much.”

“Stop hahaha pleee-ease, I-I’m trying too focuuuuhhhh *crash”. When Riko tried to get up to stop Yoshiko, she tripped and fell. Since Yoshiko was holding her by the waist she fell with her and was on top of her. When they both opened their eyes, they were in close proximity with each other, faces separated by Yoshiko’s arms length. Neither said a word for a while as their faces begin to blush. Time felt like it stood still as they gazed into each other’s eyes lost in thought at the situation. They felt their body’s heat up from their positions.

Yoshiko liked Riko, but she wasn’t sure if the girl she met awkwardly on the bus felt the same. She secretly hoped she would be placed in Guilty Kiss so they could be together, but learning about her lowered her hope as she feels more like an Azalea. When she heard the Sorting Hat said “Guilty Kiss” she wanted to jump up in joy, but had to keep her cool persona going after that stint with the hat herself. When they agreed to room together, Yoshiko was overjoyed. Then came the heart attack when Mari joked about the single bedroom and one bed thing. Yoshiko couldn’t breathe at the prospects, but she saw Riko look like she was ready to pass out. That flushed away any embarrassment she had and she helped Riko stand. For Riko to agree to room with her was a miracle. Yoshiko thought she would end up by herself or with someone she didn’t know. Granted she didn’t know Riko, but they met on the train so that didn’t count as someone she didn’t know. This feeling was beautiful and Yoshiko wants to treasure it, but it was also ugly. Yoshiko was researching dangerous stuff. Dark Magic can put Riko in harm’s way and she knows this. As they spent time together in class and out of class, all she wants is to be with Riko and nothing else mattered.

“Ummmm would you mind getting off? Its been a while since we’ve been like this and it be weird if someone wal..” *Creak Just as Riko was about to finish her statement a certain blonde walked in.

“Hi~! How are you two do……” Mari saw the scene in front of her and covered her eyes.

“Oh my~! So bold of you two.” She was looking through the space between her fingers while laughing a bit.

“No no this isn’t what it looks like.” Yoshiko yelled to Mari not realizing she should really get up.

“I don’t’ know Yoshikocchi, it looks like you’re both enjoying each other’s….presence. I know, I’ll get you a scented candle to spice up the mood and make sure nobody comes to your room. How long? 1-2 hours? Or maybe you plan on something a little longer?”

“Hey wait.”

“Bye Bye~”

“Stop you perverted blonde.” Yoshiko couldn’t believe her luck.

“Yocchan, really… can you get up?” Yoshiko regained composure and realized she was still on top of Riko.

“Sorry about that.”

“Its……. Okay.” Riko returned to her seat at the table and Yoshiko sat down on the couch. The room was silent. The only sounds coming from outside and Riko flipping through pages of her books. Yoshiko looked around trying to find something to say, then she noticed the bandage wrapped around Riko’s leg.

“Riri, why do you still have that bandage on? It’s been more than long enough since the spider incident.”

“Oh… uh… well.. from when you…” Yoshiko was trying to figure out what Riko was trying to say then she remembered. She was sucking on Riko’s leg. No doubt from how hard she was doing it to remove the poison, it left a mark. Maki wondered what the mark was from when she was treating Riko for poison since it wasn’t from the spider bite. Yoshiko quickly dropped the question.

“Thank you.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you, for trying to save me. It was nice to know you risked being poisoned to save me.”

“W-we-well of course. My elite little demon is important after all.”

“I-important?”

“Y-yeah you know, you and all the others are important to me.” Yoshiko tried to dodge the question.

“Oh, ok.” Riko turned away, a little disappointed at the response.

Riko returned to studying for the games. Yoshiko went back to her room to get a book about dark magic and read on the couch. The day passed by like this, the two quietly enjoying each other’s presence, striking up conversations about school and life, and hanging out with the other girls of Aqours.

“Yocchan, would you chop up the vegetables into small pieces please.”

“Sure, what are you making for dinner?”

“Fried Rice.”

“Nice. Would you do me a little something?”

“What is it?”

“So you know those maid cafes?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, I think it would be cute if you did that.”

“Do what? Wait you don’t mean..” Yoshiko looked at Riko with small smirk.

“….”

“No, I won’t do that thing.”

“Why not?”

“That’s embarrassing. And this is a home meal, there’s no point in doing that.”

“Oh come on, it would please Yohane so much, if her elite little demon would enchant her offering to her mistress. It would make it taste that much better.”

“Is tobasco sauce not enchantment enough for your sustenance?”

“It is good, but one from you would be of a much higher quality.”

“No is my answer. Now give me the vegetables so I can fry it with the rice.”

“Fine, next time you will do it for sure.”

“I don’t think so……. Here you go.”

“It looks good. Itadakimasu.”

“Itadakimasu…… Where did you go after class?”

“Hang out with Mari.”

“Mari-chan?”

“She wanted my opinion about having a new fountain installed in out yard. Then asked about maybe having a pool installed in the backyard. Then if it would be good to have a tea house back there too.”

“She asked you for input?”

“I have good taste.”

“Yeah, you’d probably get a ritual altar installed or something.”

“That’s not a bad idea actually.”

“Yocchan, no.”

 “Okay.”

Riko looked up at Yoshiko as they continued their conversation. Yoshiko looked cute as she scarfs down her food. Riko noticed that Yoshiko tends to eat a bit faster when it comes to her food compared to food elsewhere. She didn’t notice how long she was staring until Yoshiko looked up at her, still chewing her food looking like a hamster, that she broke out of her spell and continued to eat. Later at night Riko laid in bed; her thoughts were on the “Scholar Games” tomorrow and a certain Fallen Angel.

Riko liked Yoshiko. At first she didn’t know what it was. This feeling she had when she was with her. When they first met, the introduction was so weird she just thought that it was a onetime thing and they would probably never meet again. When she dropped her doujin, she was scared, but the fact that Yoshiko did not reject it made her feel relieved. Striking up conversations was not Riko’s thing and it was harder with Yoshiko because of the whole chuuni thing. Once the talking began though, it felt so different compared to others. Riko found herself attracted to this weird world Yoshiko lives in. After a couple of conversations, she knew Yoshiko was a good girl with a good heart. She just had a hard time expressing herself normally and would do it in roundabout ways or in Yohane mode. She needed someone to be with her that can handle her chuuni. At first she was sad to be part of Guilty Kiss, but now she is thankful she was assigned here and lived with Yoshiko. She looked cool at the Duels and how she handled the situations as they changed against Hanamaru and Yo. Then against Jurogumo, Yoshiko did everything to keep everyone safe. Riko wondered if someone as eccentric and random as Yoshiko would be happy with a normal scared girl like her. Her thoughts continued until she fell asleep

**_In a cave somewhere:_ **

“So? Is she our target?”

“Yes, she has the potential.”

“But she hasn’t unleashed it fully.”

“Only because she doesn't know how to control it. With a little more push, she’ll be ready and we can recruit her.”

“Are you sure?”

“She was going to do something, but Jurogumo failed to push her that far.”

“She was gonna kill her before anything happened.”

“Its fine, if she died by Jurogumo than she’s not worth it.”

“What now?”

“We wait, let us see if she can make more progress than Jurogumo.” The figures then all vanished leaving one lone robed figure. She pulled out her dagger and played with it with a smile on her face.


	13. Concert

Ruby and Dia were at the pier for a short break after their short trip to Takama. Dia wanted to enjoy some nice coffee and thought it would be good to bring Ruby along and buy whatever Ruby needed. She was hoping to spoil Ruby some, but Ruby insisted that she didn’t need to buy anything. They sat at a bench that looked towards the waters. A carrier pigeon flew over them and landed next to Dia. She took the letter from the pigeon, petted it, and the bird flew off. The letter was addressed to both her and Ruby, so she opened it and read the contents with Ruby.

“So where did Dia-chan and Ruby-chan go?”

“Beats me, Dia left in a hurry when I got back.”

“Ruby-chan didn’t say anything either, zura. Dia kind of just took her.”

“They must be looking for an ancient artifact of the underworld that would wreck havoc in this mortal realm.”

“The trials of Hades are nothing for sisters of…. Wait, dammit Yoshiko, you’re starting to rub off on me.”

“Amazing~, Rikocchi is fitting in more and more with us.”

“Yeah, Riko-chan is acting a bit like Yoshiko-chan.”

“I taught my little demon well.”

“No! It isn’t what it looks like.”

*BANG

“Everyone! We have big news!”

“Dia, did you just kick our door open? You broke it.”

“That’s not important Kanan, it’s faster to kick it open then unlock it.”

“It was unlocked! We were all here.”

“Umm, sorry about onee-chan. But it really is important.”

“What is it Ruby-chan?”

“Well, we got a letter from our parents and they said that there was a concert happening close to us.”

“Cool, is that the big news?”

“Of course not! The big news is we got tickets to go and they include backstage passes!”

“Woah! That’s awesome! I wish I could go, getting to see idols backstage is so rare.”

“We can all go. Our parents bought nine tickets for us.”

“Yousoro~, sounds like a plan.”

“Hey, who’s performing?”

“Saint Snow is the main headliner with a few other idol groups there for support.”

“Ah, they aren’t even a year old and they’re already headlining a concert? Amazing!”

“When’s the concert? Zura.”

“This weekend.”

“We must be diligent; we’ll leave Saturday morning and check into our hotels by noon. That’ll give us some free time before the concert that evening. We’ll depart Sunday morning so we can rest up for school on Monday.”

Dia, Ruby, and Chika continued their talk about the concert and the idols that will be there. The others couldn’t keep up with the three as they kept naming idol after idol, song after song. Kanan took this opportunity and asked Yo to help her fix the door, while Mari, Hanamaru, Yoshiko, and Riko drank tea at the dining table.

“It’s a good thing the Scholar Games were delayed to next week then.”

“It means Riri gets more time to study, honestly it’s boring when that’s what you do during your free time.”

“Well excuse me for trying to win. Its tough knowing that Dia-chan and Hanamaru-chan are potentially on the other team.”

“Hmmmm, I don’t have to worry much, zura. It’s what Minami-sensei told me.”

“What does that even mean Zuramaru?”

“Beats me, zura.”

The day of the concert arrived. Dia, Ruby, and Chika came dressed and ready for the occasion. They had headbands, signs, glow sticks, t-shirts, and happi coats prepared and some spares for the group. The other six members looked a bit bewildered and shook off the offer. Arriving at their hotel, they split up into their rooms to settle down a bit before going to eat lunch. The rooming pairs being: Riko and Yoshiko, Chika and Yo, Kanan with Mari and Dia, and Hanamaru and Ruby.

“Hahhhhh, this feels nice.”

“Yocchan, don’t fall asleep now, we’re suppose to go eat soon.”

“A little nap won’t hurt anybody. Man, what a nice hotel they got for us.”

“It really is amazing, shame we’re only here for a day.”

“Come Riri, join your mistress.”

“No thanks, I’d rather not get yelled at by Dia. I’m going to the bathroom real quick.”

“Your loss.”

“Okay, now let’s head over to the others.”

“…..”

“Yocchan? Are you sleeping?”

“……”

“I told you not to go to sleep!”

“….”

“Fine. Have it your way.” Riko went up to Yoshiko and tried to shake Yoshiko up. It didn’t work, so she decided to drag Yoshiko off the bed. It kinda worked, when Riko dragged Yoshiko off the bed, Yoshiko hit the floor with a thud.

“Ouch, Riri, why?”

“You didn’t want to get up, so I had to wake you up somehow.”

“Hmph, well I’m not moving since you dropped me on the floor.”

“I’ll drag you out then, now come…on… we need… to get… going.” Riko was now dragging the lazy fallen angel to the door. A knock came from the other side.

“It’s me, Ruby. Are you two ready? We’re about to head out for lunch. I think onee-chan said we’re getting sushi.” With that, Yoshiko shot up from the floor and ran to the door.

“Come one Riri! Sushi!”

“Oh you get up from that, but not when I call you?”

“Sushi!”

“Okay, hold on.”

The three of them made their way to the elevators where the others were waiting. Hanamaru looked more excited than the rest and Yoshiko met that enthusiasm with her own. Aqours made their way to the sushi restaurant and got placed their orders. Yoshiko got a side dish with a lot of wasabi. The other girls looked on at how she can eat that much wasabi. Once their orders arrived, Hanamaru and Yoshiko went straight in. Dia was slightly displeased at the lack of decorum, but she was fine with letting them enjoy their meals. She was more concerned with the really expensive fishes Mari seemed to have ordered, in fact the whole platter she got looked like it would bankrupt a business.

Kanan and Yo being women of the sea enjoyed talking about the qualities of the different types of seafood they ordered. Yoshiko was eating and had some rice and soy sauce on her face to which Riko wiped off, telling her to slow down. Chika and Ruby talked about what they hope to see at the concert. Hanamaru was already ready for her next order. The bill didn’t come as a surprise seeing as to how much they ate. Luckily Mari told them she had the bill covered before they arrived.

After they went looking around at different shops and locations, they were finally in the concert venue. They were in the front row and Dia, Ruby, and Chika were geared ready to cheer from beginning to end. Kanan gave a tired look, knowing what’s in store for her tonight with an amped up Dia. Mari was probably not gonna help calm Dia down, but Kanan will find a way to get backup. Hanamaru and Yo smiled at each other knowing how passionate their best friends were about this and took joy in knowing how happy they were right now.

“Whats wrong Yocchan? You’re a bit quiet compared to earlier.”

“Oh, I just… never been to a concert before.”

“You haven’t?”

“No, I’m usually at home, an arcade, or the different shops around my home.”

“I’ve been to some orchestras, but you could consider this my first concert also.”

“Really? Well, at least you’ve been to some musical presentation. I’m not really sure what to do here.”

“Just watch and enjoy yourself, that’s why we’re all here.”

The light dimmed and everything went silent for a bit. Soon sparks came up from the ground and all the idols performing appeared singing a collaboration piece. The girls danced around getting themselves into their positions and then Saint Snow moved to the front and led the performance. The light effects, the outfits, the choreography was a dazzling display. Dia, Ruby, and Chika were at absurd levels of pumped up. While the rest of Aqours watched and cheered along whenever they can. The other idols left and Saint Snow opened the show with two songs. Then, other idol groups came on and took their turns performing their songs. Saint Snow had one song in the middle of the show and closed out the show with one more.

“Come on, we gotta get backstage to meet them!”

“Chika-chan hold up.”

“Onee-chan, will we be able to get all of their autographs?”

“We won’t know if we don’t try. Have your things ready Ruby.”

“Seriously, we won’t hear the end of it, if Dia doesn’t get what she wants.”

“It’ll be fine Kanan. Dia doesn’t get this excited often.”

“What did you think of the concert?”

“It was captivating, zura. It felt like watching a story unfold before your eyes. What about you Yoshiko-chan?”

“…..”

“Yoshiko-chan?”

“Huh? Oh it was good, I enjoyed it.” Yoshiko wasn’t entirely telling the truth. She sat on the far left of the group so she had to turn a little bit right to see the middle of the stage. She paid attention to the concert yes, but her eyes wondered to Riko throughout the concert. The way the lights from the show shined on her mesmerized Yoshiko. She would divert her eyes back on stage when she saw Riko move, hoping not to get caught. There was one time they were standing during one section of the concert and Yoshiko would try to hold her hand, but in the end couldn’t.

“Ommph. I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Oh no, you’re fine. I was rushing, so it was my fault too.”

“Onee-san, it was her fault since she just walked right into you.”

“Leah, it’s my fault too for not being careful.”

“Ah, I’m sorry Yoshiko-chan bumped into you. Hey, weren’t you two part of the concert?”

“That’s correct. I’m Sarah Kazuno and she’s my little sister Leah, we’re..”

“Ahhhhh! It’s Saint Snow!”

“Onee-chan, it’s them, the super rookies.”

“Quick Ruby, we got to get their autographs for sure.” Dia, Ruby, and Chika quickly got in front of Saint Snow and asked for their autographs. They also talked about how much they loved Saint Snow and their thoughts on their songs.

“My my, I’m glad to see we have such passionate fans.”

“Hmph…..”

“Your group is a lively one. Well you three are, the others seem to be rather clam about this.”

“Oh dear, you don’t know, but me and Yoshikochii can be pretty crazy if we need to be.”

“Kukuku, we can easily cast hellfire and scorch this world or create a chasm of destruction….oooph”

“Please don’t mind her, she’s just excited, zura.”

“Well if you all don’t mind, would you like to continue this conversation in the dressing room? You can meet the rest there too.”

“We would be honored!”

Sarah and Leah led the girls to the dressing room. Ruby couldn’t help but notice the younger girl, who had twin pigtails like her, was glaring at her and that scared Ruby a bit. When they got to the dressing room, they were introduced to the other groups. Dia, Ruby, and Chika made sure to get all their autographs and memorabilia if they could. Once, that fangirling was over, Saint Snow had to get dressed back to their regular clothes and left Aqours to their own accord. Leah was first to finish and walked out, but she kept her distance from everyone else. Ruby saw her and wondered what was wrong so she went over to talk to her.

“H-hi, you didn’t really talk this entire time, is everything okay?”

“….”

“Ummm, uhhh….”

“Everything’s…fine.”

“Oh, w-well you didn’t look comfortable around us, so I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“No one asked for you to worry about me.”

“It was kind of hard, when you were staring at me.”

“I was not!”

“Pigi! I-I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s my fault. Umm my name…is Leah, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Ruby, nice to meet you too Leah-chan.”

Sarah got done changing and as she walked out, she saw her sister talking to Ruby. A smile appeared on her face as she went up to Dia.

“It would appear my sister and your’s are friends now.”

“Yes, it would. May I ask a question?”

“What is it?”

“Do you speak for your sister?”

“Normally yes. She’s not very good at making friends and she keeps a distance between her and people who try to get close to her.”

“Is it because of the idol thing?”

“Well, no. She’s been shy like this before we chose to become idols. If anything, it actually probably made it harder for her to make friends. Being a student and an idol at the same time is tough and takes a lot of time, so she would normally be busy doing things and not notice that there are people trying to be friends with her.

“Heh, reminds me a bit of Ruby, minus the idol part. Well, she’s easily scared so that didn’t help, but she’s improving and now has a lot of friends.”

“I can tell, now if only Leah can take the initiative and try to make friends. It’s cute knowing she loves me and wants to be with me, but I want her to have a circle of friends she can be comfortable around. It’ll ease my mind knowing it.”

“Hey, with Ruby, that’s a start. Her cuteness is what draws people in.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but isn’t it Leah’s cuteness that drew your sister in.”

“Bu Bu~ desu wa! Ruby has a cuteness that can’t be contended with. Ruby.”

“Yes onee-chan?”

“When things are tough, but you need to persevere..”

“Ganbaruby!”

“That’s my Ruby. See? Cuteness beyond human comprehension.”

“I think not.”

Dia and Sarah continued to talk about their little sisters. Leah and Ruby were confuses at what was going on and continued their conversation. Leah was wondering what the heck was that Ruby just did and Ruby explained it to her.

“Okay, so you came up with that with your sister.”

“Yep, my onee-chan is always doing her best no matter what, so I must do my best and support her.”

“You really love your sister huh?”

“I do and I bet you love your sister too.”

“Of course, she’s smart, beautiful, elegant, and much more. She’s everything a big sister should be.”

“My onee-chan is smart too. She’s strong in fighting, she’s cool, she always does everything she can for her friends, and she supports me with whatever I need.”

“Sarah does that for me too, in fact she can balance idol life, school life, and our regular lives like its nothing.”

“Well my onee-chan fought off a villain and some dangerous people at our school. You can say she risks her life for others.”

“What’s your problem? My sister is the best.”

“Mine is.”

Yoshiko watched the battle between sisters play out. She saw the whole thing and the others came in later and saw the arguments between the Kurosawa’s and Kazuno’s unfold.

“Is this some sister comedy?”

“I don’t know, but shouldn’t we do something?”

“Well, it doesn’t look like it’ll be violent. Just some sisterly love.”

“Acutally, this might tire Dia out and I don’t have to deal with her energy when we get back.”

“Or, it could make her angry and she’ll vent to us tonight.”

“Please, no.”

“Excuse me.” The manager walked in and needed to speak to Saint Snow.

“Yes?”

“We’ll be departing in 30 minutes, make sure you have everything and be outside five minutes early.”

“Okay, thank you.”

When the manager left, Saint Snow and Aqours wrapped up whatever they were doing and departed. Sarah gave one last look to the sisters and smirked before they went their separate ways. Aqours ate dinner at a restaurant and Dia was venting at Kanan and Mari.

“A little sister cuter than Ruby? Get real, look at her.” Dia patted Ruby’s head and then placed her hands on Ruby’s cheeks and moved it from side to side. Ruby gave her best determined look showing off her cuteness.

“Is that supposed to be scary?”

“No matter what, I can only see Ruby as cute, zura.” Ruby became flustered and her cheeks became red.

“My point exactly Hanamaru-san.”

“Dia, calm down, you won’t be able to sleep like this tonight. We have to get back to school early tomorrow.”

“We can sleep on the ride back.”

“Dia, we shouldn’t be starting any imouto wars.”

The rest could only look on in embarrassment of their senior. Once they returned to their hotel, they went to their rooms to rest up for the night. As Kanan expected Dia is talking about Ruby and Saint Snow. She was praising Saint Snow but doesn’t agree with their statement that Leah is cuter than Ruby. Chika and Yo played card games while Chika talked about all the different things that happened during the concert. Hanamaru and Ruby read books together before they fell asleep.

“Yocchan, you can take your shower now.”

“Alright, hopefully you didn’t u…” Yoshiko stopped as she saw Riko in a bathrobe, wiping her hair dry. Her eyes looked over Riko, probably wanting to know the gift that’s under it. Her being conscience of her feelings for Riko was making her more nervous than normal.

“Hm? Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh no I was uh um looking, yeah, at..at..the painting, on the wall next to you. It’s a fine piece of art.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, it really is a good piece.”

Yeah, ha ha ha, I’m going to go now, to take a shower.” Yoshiko was fumbling through her clothes to find her sleepwear. She then headed her way to the bathroom and tripped. Riko went over to check on Yoshiko, but she quickly got up and ran to the bathroom. Riko was confused at what happened and continued drying her hair.

After finishing her shower, Yoshiko came out to find Riko already sleeping. She let out a long breath and made her way to bed. Before getting into her bed, she stood next to the sleeping Riko. She was beautiful Yoshiko thought as she reached down to brush her hair. A headache came to Yoshiko before she could do it, and she hissed in pain. ‘Damn, must’ve been all the stuff that happened today’. Riko shuffled a bit in bed, and Yoshiko backed away thinking she just woke her up. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.

“Good night Riri.” Yoshiko whispered before making her way to bed.

****


	14. Confession

“Yocchan… I… Iove you. I love you Yocchan.”

“I love you Yocchan.”

“I love you….”

Yoshiko woke up from a rather interesting dream. She yawned and stretched in her bed before getting up from it. She put on her slippers and stretched a bit more, cracking a few bones here and there. She got out of her room and into the back room of the dorm.

“Ah, morning Yocchan!” Riko greeted her with a smile. Yoshiko yawned a bit before she replied.

“Morning Riri.” Riko just finished changing and left for the kitchen and Yoshiko entered the bathroom. She brushed her teeth groggily. Once that was finished she washed her face. While washing her face her eyes glowed unbeknownst to her and then a slight headache came. “Ugghh, I either woke up too early or need some food.” After she finished freshening up and got dressed, she went to the living room and found an already ready to go Riko. They were going to eat breakfast with the rest of Aqours.

Once everyone arrived at the door to the dining hall they went in and got their food. Conversations were flowing left and right, everyone was talking except Yoshiko. She had something else in mind, something that was locked in her mind until she had food in her stomach. Once she started eating she realized, “I have to think of a way to confess to Riko.” How this came to her, she didn’t know. Last night she couldn’t sleep well as her feelings were welling up. When she did sleep, that dream kept playing in her head. It also happened the night they went to the concert. She couldn’t sleep well as her dreams of Riko kept waking her up. She decided she needed to sort these feelings out now or she’ll probably never sleep peacefully again.

The question is what should she do. A regular old confession off to the side of the school? No no, that’s so cliché and overused. How about dinner in Takama and then confess? Hmmm, no I don’t know what would be a good restaurant to go to for this is. What if we were on a boat in the sea under the moonlight? I’d probably die from the embarrassment. Get girl in boat and then what? Confess? Why even get in a boat just for a one minute confession. “Argh, what should I do?”

“Yoshiko-chan?.... Yoshiko-chan.” Yoshiko just realized someone was talking to her.

“Hmmm did you need something?”

“Sorry, but it looks like you were out of it zura.” Everyone looked at her in worry.

“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the…. Scholar games coming up. Yeah.”

“Oh is Yoshiko-san going to take classes seriously now?” Dia asked. Yoshiko was almost certain Dia tried to make a joke.

“Hmmmm an intellectual Yoshiko-chan? That wouldn’t be too bad.” Riko joked

“Hey, are you calling me dumb?”

“No, its just you seem to be smart in… certain areas and not others.”

“Yes, she’s calling you dumb Yoshikocchi. Why don’t you ask Rikocchi to be your private tutor. I’m sure she can teach you some things.” Mari raised her eyebrows and gave a seductive look towards her. The teasing went on for a little bit before everyone returned to eating. The “Scholar Games were to take place after lunch. Riko was chosen to be part of the team for Guilty Kiss. In Cyaron, Ruby was a member of the team. For Azalea, Hanamaru and Dia was part of the team. Early favorites were Azalea just like in every Scholar Game ever played. That doesn’t mean they win all the time, but it shows how tough it is to beat Azalea in this game. Mari was helping set up when Yoshiko approached her.

“Mari, do you think I can talk to you for a bit?”

“Sure~, anything you need.”

“Can we go somewhere a bit more private?” Mari wondered what was up, but agreed and went to someplace more private.

“I-I need your help.”

“Help for what?”

“……ko”

“Hmmm? What was that?”

“…..fess…..”

“Come on honey; tell Mari onee-san what you need.” Mari was certain what Yoshiko wanted to say, but she just wanted to tease her adorable underclassman some more.

“I need you help me confess to Riko!!”

“Oh honey, did you finally realize your feelings for her? I’ve been waiting for you to admit it for so long now.”

“Sh-shut up, will you help me or not.”

“Of course, but let’s get these games out of the way first then we can talk, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll meet you after the games.”

The “Scholar Games” was about to begin and Aqours found their seats somewhere in the middle rows. All three teams were up on stage and the judges were Umi, Eli, and Maki. Nozomi was the MC and asked the questions that will be answered. This event probably wasn’t the most exciting event but it does show the academics prowess of the houses, much to the dismay of 2 housemistresses that were part of the group dubbed “Baka Trio”. This was an event where they would pick the smartest students they had and prayed that Kotori’s team made mistakes. Kotori watched on in rather high spirits. Rin and Nico already mailed in their defeats before the event started.

“Is having Dia there even fair nyaa?”

“We should get the chance to ban some of your residents from the game.”

“Nico-chan, that wouldn’t be fair for my residents. They prepared so hard for this.”

“Easy for you to say, we could be going against your 4th string team and still lose.”

“Who’s idea was it to make Azalea the smart house anyway nyaa?”

“Well I guess the cup is as good as ours this year huh?”

“We’re not even half way through the year yet. We can make up the difference.”

“Yeah, even if you win all the scholar games for the year, there are plenty of events for us to win.”

The event began, and early on Azalea instilled their dominance. It was a battle for 2nd place basically. Riko and Ruby did well not getting a single question wrong so far. The beginning wasn’t as pressure packed. Questions were asked to each individual team. There was no threat of losing points if they get it wrong, but they can’t afford to lose points, so they have to get every question right. The second half is the speed portion, where the questions are asked for all three teams to answer. Of course they could not match the speed in which Hanamaru and Dia were able to answer the questions. It felt like they know the answers before Nozomi could finish the question. Questions ranged from basic spells, types, how spells work, magical items, history, famous figures, to even things about the school. Being well rounded is tough, so teams were chosen where the each member had their areas of expertise then they study up on the area they’re weak in.

Time flew by; question after question gets answered, the judges discussing whether certain answers were valid, tensions rising from the small gap separating second and third. Any hint of hesitation could cost you a question, but answering wrong will cost you also. Guilty Kiss and Cyaron had to rush a couple of times to answer before Azalea could. There were some hits and misses, but any chance they could get to score points is precious. Azalea won by a good margin. This result widened their lead in the House Cup standings. Riko was able to secure 2nd place narrowly for Guilty Kiss keeping them in 2nd in the standings. Ruby was disappointed despite giving her best effort and not getting a single one of her questions wrong until the end where she was just a bit slow to answer.

“Congrats guys. You all did wonderful.” Kanan praised everyone.

 “I just didn’t think the gap would be this far between us and Azalea.” Riko sighed in disbelief

“Well with Dia on the team, it was almost a guaranteed victory. She did lead Azalea to victory in all the “Scholar Games” last year as a 1st year.

“It would be a bit of a disgrace if we lost despite being known as the “Scholar House”.” Dia puffed her chest out in triumph.

“I did my best too, but it wasn’t good enough.”

“It’s okay Ruby-chan. You had fun and showed everyone how good you are, zura.”

“Of course, my Ruby was the shining star. If she was with us, we would be the unbeatable sister plus zura team.”

“You did great Riri.”

“Thank you Yoshiko-chan.”

“Yoshikocchi~. If you girls don’t mind, I need to borrow her for a bit.” Mari grabbed Yoshiko and they went off somewhere leaving the others confused.

“Okaaaay, that was weird.” Yo remarked.

“Ne Ne, what do you think they’re up to?” Chika added

“Hopefully not something dangerous” Both Riko and Dia hung their heads knowing the combination of fallen angel and overly touchy pervert was not good.

The afternoon went by and Yoshiko returned late. Riko asked where she went with Mari and she said that she promised Mari that she would help her with something. Riko wasn’t sure if she should believe it or not, but decided to let it go. They had a small chat before Yoshiko took a bath and went to bed. The next morning, Yoshiko woke up early to Riko’s surprise. In fact she was already dressed and was about to head out when Riko asked what’s going on with her. Yoshiko just answered with helping Mari out and left. “Mari again?” Yoshiko and Mari were gone for the whole morning.

“What do you think they are doing?” Chika asked as they went to eat lunch.

“I don’t know, but if Mari is this invested, then it must be something important.” Kanan spoke as she was looking at the lunch options.

“Yoshiko-chan would only say that she’s helping Mari. Helping with what?”

“I bet Mari wants to add something to the campus again and needed a unique perspective on things” Dia said as she got her drink.

“She could’ve chosen anyone from Guilty Kiss if she wanted a unique perspective.” Yo said laughing.

Lunch went by and they hung around the courtyard for a bit, watching the other students play around and chat about everyday life. As evening arrived they all returned to their rooms. Riko would normally walk with Yoshiko and Mari, but since they were gone, she was alone. Riko wouldn’t be lying if she was lonely, having the two around always produced laughs and excitement, something she probably wouldn’t have if she was anywhere else. She got to the door, but before she unlocked it, she looked over at Mari’s door. It was still closed; she let out a sigh and unlocked her door. When she entered she was surprised to see the room decorated. There were scented candles lit up, rose and lilies scattered across the floor, and was that the piano she heard playing? She looked closely and she could see charm placed on it. Then from the hallway, Yoshiko walked out wearing a suit. White dress shirt, black pants, and black blazer. The linings of it were blue and her tie was dark blue with stripes. There was a rose on her breast pocket.

“Welcome my sweet.” She said in a lower tone. She walked over and picked up Riko’s hand and kissed it. “Would you care to join me for dinner?” Riko was too stunned to react so she just nodded. Yoshiko then led her to the table, pulled out the chair and pushed it in when Riko sat down. Yoshiko then sat down and clapped her hand. All of a sudden the door opened and in came a familiar looking blonde. She was wearing a waiter’s outfit instead of a waitress one. She came in with a cart and started to place the food on the table. Once the food was on the table, she walked out with the cart.

They ate and had a casual conversation while Riko’s head was turning for what the heck is going on. It didn’t help when Yoshiko would stare at her and made attempts to feed her. Yoshiko was insistent on Riko taking a bite so Riko nervously ate the food Yoshiko fed her to stop her from feeling even more flustered.

“You look divine this evening.”

“Um, its just my school uniform and robe.”

“….. Still, you’re beautiful.”

“Oh, thanks. You look….good yourself.”

“Thank you, I wonder if its fair how beautiful I am sometimes.”

“Right.”

“How has your day been?”

“Pretty good I guess, though it was quiter with you and Mari gone. Where did you two go?”

“Hmhm, don’t worry about that now. You have me here now.” Yoshiko stood up and got behind Riko. She placed her hands on Riko’s shoulders which resulted in a slight yelp. Yoshiko then started to massage her shoulders a bit.

“You seem a bit stressed my dear, relax a bit.”

“Oh, well, its just what’s happening right now is a bit…weird?” Riko relaxed a bit from the shoulder massage, but she’s still wondering what the heck is going on with Yoshiko. Once Yoshiko finished her massage, she returned to her seat. When they finished dinner, Yoshiko took Riko’s hand and guided her to their balcony. There they stood under the moonlight on the balcony with a view of the flower garden beneath them. Yoshiko had been smooth so far, but now comes the hard part.

“Riko ever since the first time we met. I was enamored with…….”

“ I-I was enamored with……” Yoshiko’s mind blanked out. This can’t be happening, she thought to herself. She practiced with Mari and planned everything out the past 24 hours, it was going so smoothly and she had to freeze up on the most important part. Oh, strike me down now if I don’t confess now, she said to herself. She looked and saw a really confused look on Riko’s face. Oh god, she’ll think I’m weird now, and she’ll reject me for this failure of a confession. What do I do, come on think, think.

“Yocchan, is everything alright with you?”

“Ah ah umm I you ummm” Yoshiko struggled to from sentences and her mind went spinning. Her hand started to shake and Riko got worried. Before she could say anything Yoshiko let go of her hands.

“Kukuku, there are plenty of lesser beings who wished to spend time with the Fallen Angel Yohane, for my beauty knows no bound. And yet nobody could get close and can only serve from far away. Except for you little demon Riri. You, a beauty sent down from above. A beauty that would make the likes of Aphrodite jealous. To shine the light on this dark lonely road I have taken. To save me from the path on loneliness. You have gotten closer to me more than anybody has ever had. As if you broke down the gates of Hell itself to be with my fallen self. I have found myself attracted to you and have a wish to have you with me at all times. Riri, will you like to create the contract of eternal love with Yohane, to be forever together for the rest of time and beyond?”

Riko stared the entire time just lost in thought. She was deciphering everything that was said. Then the words finally hit her.

“Love? Eternal Love?”

“That was what I said yes.”

“Do you really mean it Yocchan?” Tears began to form in her eyes.

“Of course, I have no reason to lie about this.” Riko hugged her tightly and she started to cry.

“I love you too Yocchan. I love you too.” There it was the words, she wanted to here. The very words that started to melt Yoshiko. She hugged back and teared up a bit herself. They both stayed like that in each other’s warmth, each other’s embrace until their tears stopped. Riko pulled back and looked at Yoshiko in the eyes.

“How about you say it to me normally now.” Yoshiko blushed, but she knew Riko wasn’t going to let her go until she said it.

“I….. love you Riri. I love you so much.” She said returning the smile back to Riko.

“Me too, I love you Yocchan.” She leaned in to kiss and closed her eyes. Yoshiko did the same as their lips met. Their lips were soft against one another, passion filled as they continued to press their lips together not wanting this moment to end only breaking apart for quick breaths, for under this November moonlit night, the Fallen Angel and Pianist have found someone to love and spend their lives together with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is, the confession.
> 
> I have an idea for my next work, gonna be something with thieves/spies. Might take some time to actually get it into something cohesive though, especially since I’m working on this and Aqours Online.


	15. Steady

Riko woke up the next morning after her and Yoshiko’s confession. When she tried to move, there was a tight hold around her waist, so she looked down under the covers to find Yoshiko hugging her and still sleeping. Riko smiled and kissed the top of her head and laid there for a bit longer embracing her lover. Riko remembered back to last night, the feelings that came when they announced their love for one another. The feeling of their kiss under the moonlight. The feeling of each other’s bodies as they did some “studying” into the night. Yoshiko then shuffled a bit and woke up and looked at Riko, giving her a tired “Good Morning.”

“Morning Yocchan… come now, we have to get ready for school.”

“But I want to stay like this for a while longer, and its still too early.” Yoshiko hugged tighter and gave a light kiss to Riko’s chest. Riko blushed a bit, but she was not changing her mind and got up from the bed pulling Yoshiko along the way.

“Awwww, you’re no fun.” Yoshiko pouted.

“I love you too Yocchan.” Riko put on a robe and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She resisted every attempt Yoshiko made to stay in a little longer. Back hugs, kisses, some seduction, they all failed and Riko eventually had to dress Yoshiko herself. “Geez, did I sign up to take care of a child with that eternal love contract?” Riko said, as she brushed Yoshiko's hair and trying to make her signature side bun perfect. They both looked over to the dresser to see their COs glowing in a light purplish color, which could only mean one person.

“Shiiiiinnnyyyy Morning! I hope you all had a good night. Huhuhu.”

“What are you giggling about Mari? You better have a good reason for calling all of us or Dia might strangle you. Put that down Dia.”

“Oh there is a good reason. I think it would be better if the main stars for this call told everyone themselves.”

“Who are you talking about? Zura”

“Am I in trouble for letting out the bats from their cages?”

“You were the one Chika? Did you know how much work it took to get them all back?!”

“Dia put that down!”

“I was gonna get them back. I thought they could use some mikans to liven up their day.”

“I’ll squeeze the mikan juice out of you”

“Ok ok, can we get back on topic before Dia kills all of us except Ruby?”

“I’m talking about the two lovebirds of Guilty Kiss of course. Something important happened last night, I’m sure of it.”

“What is she talking about?” Yo asked and some muttering could be heard. Riko and Yoshiko were not expecting something like this this early in the morning. They were going to tell the group, but maybe some time later would be better. Yoshiko spoke up for them:

“Riri and I are dating.” Her statement was meant with silence. “Eh?.... Is anybody there?” Then a sudden outburst of congratulations minus an upset Dia came to.

“Yousoro~ Congrats you two.”

“I’m so happy for you both. Zura”

“When’s the wedding? I know this really good place with lots of mikans that you can hold it at.”

“A-amazing Yoshiko-chan and Riko-chan.”

“Did it really take that long for you two to noti…” Dia cut off Kanan before she could finish.

“Did you really call us this early for that Mari?! After you kept Kanan and me up late last night?!”

“Now now Dia. They had their fun last night so I figured that the 3 of us could too!”

“W-what did she mean onee-chan?”

“Nothing Ruby, your onee-chan is okay… ahem.”

“Can we all calm down; I think we should focus on getting ready for school.”

“Good call Riko-san, lets end this and… get ready.” They all hung up and Riko and Yoshiko started to dread the teasing that they are sure they’ll get from their group. They met up with the group and talked about said relationship. Then the 2nd years left and the 1st years headed to class. On the way to class, they couldn’t help notice the googly eyed looks, smirks, whistles, and giggles of the girls as they walked by them. It was obvious who they were for and it left them wondering how did the school find out and how fast the word traveled. While in class Umi reminded everyone about “Sphere Shot” and that it was coming up soon. She told them that if anyone was interested should speak with their Housemistress so they can be considered. She also went over critiques about the spars from last week. Yoshiko, Yo, and Hanamaru did well. Chika did good though Umi wished she didn’t blindly attack all the time. Riko held up well and was reminded that her hesitation at one moment almost cost her the match. Ruby was passable and was told to be more confident in her abilities.

After school Riko went to the library to study knowing that if she did it in her dorm that Yoshiko would tease and distract her. She was wandering around trying to see what books she should check out. She then heard noises coming from the back corner room of the library. She went to check out what it was and peaked into the room. Instant regret came as she saw Ayase-sensei and Tojo-sensei making out on the table. Riko couldn’t believe her luck, it’s like she was destined to discover the lesbian experiences of her senseis. Sure everyone knew Eli and Nozomi had a thing going on and there was more than one time when they flirted out in the open, mainly Nozomi. Then there are talks and suspicions of Umi and Maki being together as students began to notice their interactions with one another and how often one would show up to assist the other. Is every teacher here gay for each other? Riko thought as she retreated back to a study spot in the library. It didn’t help when she got back to her dorm and Yoshiko started teasing her as expected and she eventually cracked and played along.

“Like this Riri, do it like this.”

“Am I doing it right?”

“You’re trying too hard. Let the feelings flow through you.”

“Uhmm I’m not sure, can you show me?”

“Fine, let me get in position. Loosen up a bit okay?”

“Eeeep!”

“Sorry, let me just…”

“How is it?”

“It’s good, now let’s continue.” Yoshiko was behind Riko, her body pressed on her back. She was holding Riko’s hand and her voice was close to her ears. Her breath could be felt along Riko’s neck. Nervousness was building up with every word Yoshiko said as it tickles her. Her hair would slightly brush up on Yoshiko’s nose. The heat was rising and Riko started to sweat. “I said relax a bit.” Riko breathed in and out, calming herself, she repeated this a few more times. Each breath she took made her back come in contact with Yoshiko’s chest. Yoshiko held her close. “How are you feeling now?”

“Good.”

“Are you ready then?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay… here we go.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“Fire!” Riko hits her target. An orb breaks from a distance.

“I did it!”

“That’s my Riri,” Yoshiko exclaimed as she hugged her girlfriend. Riko was selected to the “Sphere Shot” team along with Yoshiko and Mari. Riko was good but at times her nerves made her shots stray. Yoshiko tried to help her stay calm so she can be at her best. After the practice session, Yoshiko invited Riko out to a café for lunch, much to Riko’s surprise. Yoshiko wanted to help Riko relax before the competition so a date sounds like a great idea. They enjoyed lunch then walked around Takama even visiting the doujin shop. Riko’s smile and enjoyment was all Yoshiko wanted out of this and it worked.

“By the way, if you are out around at night, be sure to stay in town. There have been some wolves spotted lately.” Riko froze up and Yoshiko held her hand to keep her calm. “They should be gone after a few days though since they only show up around here for a few days. Nobody knows why, but if they don’t bother us then we don’t bother them.” The shopkeeper said that before going back to the front counter.

‘Great timing, after I’ve got her to relax now I gotta find another way to calm her down’ Yoshiko thought. Riko was slightly shaking on the boat ride back to school, but Yoshiko held Riko and assured her that everything will be alright. Everything was not alright, when they returned to school, there was a noticeable hole in the top corner of a building and a part of an archway was missing. They checked to see what happened. Seems like Mari, Dia, and Kanan got too into a training session and their shots hit some school architecture.

“Hehehe, Whoops.” Mari said jokingly

“Now is not the time to joke around, we’re about to be reprimanded again.”

“I’m sorry Kanan, but you clearly were asking for it when you didn’t hold back on your shot.”

“Seriously? If you three are going to go overboard, can you at least do it where the school is not part of collateral?” Nico was furious as she continued to scold the 2nd years. Students walked by either laughing or had the “again?” look on their faces.

“Mari, we know what you’re about to do, just make sure you put in a report okay nyaa?”

“What is she going to do?” Riko asked as she and Yoshiko approached.

“W-well Mari-san is going to put in a request and the damages should be fixed by tomorrow.” Hanayo told her.

“Oh yeah, she’s rich. She can get anything by contacting her family.” Yoshiko replied and realization. “Does she pay for everything around here?”

“No, only for things that was her responsibility like destruction of the campus or additions to campus. Maki is also rich, so she made some additions to campus too.”

Yoshiko looked over to see Riko giggle a bit at the mess the 2nd years were in and was glad as it erased her nerves from before. Competition day arrived and the participants were set. There is an individual and team event. If a house swept the standings in the individual portion then all the points are theirs.

The team event was first. Riko and Yoshiko were part of the 5 woman team for Guilty Kiss. Hanamaru was in for Azalea. Yo and Ruby were in for Cyaron. Lineup wise, Riko was lead-off shooter and Yoshiko was closer. Hanamaru was 3rd in her lineup. Ruby was 2nd and Yo was closer for Cyaron.

**Guilty Kiss:**

“I hope I do okay as lead off.”

“You’re fine Riri, we practiced for this.”

“I’m sure you two were doing more than practicing, hehehe.”

“Hana-chan, don’t tease them.”

“It doesn’t matter, just let me shoot something.”

“Izawa-chan, calm down would you.”

“I can’t Pako-chan, I have a need to shoot.”

“Anyways, Yoshiko, close this out for us alright?”

“You got it!”

**Azalea:**

“Ummm, is it okay to have me on the team, zura?”

“Of course Kunikida-chan, we’re a team and support each other.”

“She’s right, just keep yourself relaxed. I know this is a shooting competition, but a measured shot is better than a missed one.”

“Don’t take too long measuring though; we need to clear with speed.”

“Let’s go girls.”

“Roger captain!”

**Cyaron:**

“I hope I’m good enough for this.”

“Ruby-chan, be confident in yourself. We believe in you.”

“It’s as Yo-san said, just watch me and follow my example.”

“Yo-chan, be a good closer for us, they get the toughest set at the end.”

“If we can get a lead, I believe we can close it out.”

“Thanks everyone, Ruby-chan just steady yourself and you’ll be good.”

“Okay, Ganbaruby!”

“Yousoro~, let’s get this show on the road.”

All three teams got up to the shooting grounds. The lead-of shooters approached the platforms and set themselves. The other students and faculty watched on from the stands around them. At the judges seats, Nozomi, Anju, and Hanayo took their spots. Honoka came up to MC.

“Welcome ladies and ladies to the Sphere Shot competition. Are you all excited for this?”

“Raaaaaahhhhh!”

“That was lacking some energy, ARE Y’ALL EXCITED?”

“RAAAAHHHH”

“Woooooo! That’s more like it.”

“To all our contestants, Fighto dayo!” Honoka continued hyping up the crowd with boundess energy.

Nico, Kotori, and Rin looked on from the team bench along with the contestants for the individual portion. They exchanged some banter about whose team will win. Mari was relaxed, enjoying some lemonade and on a recliner she got from somewhere. Dia, Kanan, and Chika looked over at her like she was crazy.

“Honoka-chan, calm down a little. We should start soon.”

“Oh…. Sorry, got carried away there. Are the teams ready?” They nodded.

“Are our judges and sphere launching people ready?” They nodded.

“Then let’s begin!”


	16. Sphere Shot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick apology, when I pasted this chapter two paragraphs orders were messed up and created confusion. I have no clue how that happened when I was sure they were in their proper places from my work document. I fixed it now and it should flow better.

**Lineups:**

Guilty Kiss: Riko, Izawa, Hana, Pako, Yoshiko

Cyaron: Suzy, Ruby, Fumie, Toki, Yo

Azalea: Beth, Catherine, Hanamaru, Hina, Sayaka

Sphere shot began and the lead-off shooters got ready. The first spheres were shot up and were shot down easily and then they walked to the back of their respective lines. The 2nd shooters got up and the next spheres were shot up. Just as they entered the shooting zone, Izawa immediately shot hers down. Riko and Yoshiko were surprised at how quick she fired. She gave a quick look to the other teams for a little confirmation of her skills and saw what she wanted.

“An early lead can make a difference.” Izawa said as she walked by Yoshiko and Riko. For the first rotation through the lineup only one sphere was shot up for each team, so it was rather easy. Everyone hit their marks on the first try, but Guilty Kiss holds a one person advantage thanks to Izawa.

Riko walked up for her second attempt. This time two spheres were shot up, one diagonally to the left form the other. Riko aimed her wand, lining up her shot, and with a deep breath she fired hitting both targets. She gave a quick fist pump and walked back. Ruby came up and took some time before she fired. She too hit both targets. Hanamaru did the same.

Guilty Kiss was on their 3rd rotation now while the other two houses are closing out their 2nd. Three spheres are now shot up in a triangle shape. Riko took the bottom route first and shot down the bottom two before hitting the one on top. She began to relax as she now has her rhythm and has trust in her teammates to win. Azalea and Cyaron haven’t loss face yet, they know they’re one person behind, but there’s still time. They know they can’t tense up despite being behind.

The fourth rotation came, and Riko noticed the spheres are now flying at different speeds. She slowed down to gauge them and successfully hit all three target. Izawa came up and was ready.

“Keep it up Riri.”

“Yeah, I feel good right now.”

“Dammit, Izawa don’t fire that quickly.”

“I know, I know, my mistake!” Riko and Yoshiko looked up to see one sphere fly out of the zone. Izawa missed one and now she has to wait for one more to be shot up again. Ruby and Catherine saw this as their chance to catch up and got ready. Izawa hit her remaining target, but now their lead was very slim as Ruby and Catherine hit theirs on the first try.

“Oh Nico-chan, that must be tough nyaa.”

“That’s the risk you take for having Izawa-chan on the team. She’s good, but can get ahead of herself and miss.”

“I know that! I hope that girl doesn’t do it again.”

The three closer walked up for their go in the fourth rotation. The spheres were shot up and they aimed carefully what just happened to Izawa. Guilty Kiss has now loss their lead and it’s all even between then three teams. Rotation five was cleared without any problems and so was six. Riko got up for the seventh and saw five spheres shot this time. Her approach was the same as the previous, where she went bottom up.

Ruby walked up for her turn with the 2nd shooters in the lineup. Ruby fired and hit her marks.

“Cyaron, fifth shot was not a clean hit. Redo.”

“Eh?” Ruby looked and saw a sphere that was hit but wasn’t broken. “Oh no.”

“Ruby-chan, calm down, you got this.” Yo urged Ruby to keep her composure. Thankfully she did and hit her do over. Now Cyaron is in last place and Ruby looked a bit defeated as she walked back. Her teammates noticed and reassured her giving Ruby her confidence back.

On the eigth rotation, five spheres were shot at varying speeds and now there were smaller ones in the mix. The pace slowed down as each shooter lined their shot with the variety in their targets. Hanamru took her time, carefully lining up her shots. Azalea has the slight lead now, so she has a bit extra time to make sure her shots hit. She was able to hit her mer marks, but Guilty Kiss and Cyaron caught up. Still, it was better than missing one and waiting for it to get launched up again. The closers step up and saw how the spheres were flying from the previous four shooters, so they had a good grasp on what to do. As expected, they hit all targets.

“Be ready Yoshiko, rounds nine and ten are when the closers don’t get the same wave as the rest.” Hana warned her as she knows that closers don’t get a pass from seeing the same waves the entire time. The last two rotations are when the closers make their money.

Rotation nine arrives and Yoshiko and Yo watches as their teammates do their things. They prepare themselves with the knowledge that their wave will be different from the others, so getting a sense on what their teammates have will mean nothing.

“Yocchan, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good, just won’t know what I’ll get until I’m up there.”

“I know you got it under control.”  The second shooters cleared their wave

“Yo-chan, don’t rush it since you don’t know what they’ll throw at you.”

“Gotcha, leave it to me.” The third and fourth shooters cleared their waves.

Yoshiko, Yo, and Sayaka get to the platform with Sayaka in the lead. Her wave launches up first. Two spheres were launched up first followed by two more. All four were smaller targets and the first two criss crossed their paths. The back two were moving faster then the first with one starting to dip downward. Yoshiko looked for what order she wanted to shoot them down. Yo was set on taking out the back two first since they were moving faster. Yo hit both targets and now locked onto the remaining two. Yoshiko waited for the four to get close to each other then fired four rapid shots. Yo fired at her last two. They both hit all their marks and Sayaka did too.

The tenth and final rotaion has arrived. Yoshiko walked by and gave Riko a smile to which Riko returned. The first four shooters had to shoot down six spheres at varying speeds. There were some hiccups in the middle of their lineups, but no team had a clear advantage. Soon, the closers turn came. They hurried to their positions and readied themselves. The last wave launched and it was a very small sphere that moved at a blazing speed. It caught the three closers by surprise as they couldn’t fire off a shot. They regained their composure and waited for the next launch. Sayaka fired first and missed high. Yoshiko and Yo held their shots and decided to wait for another launch.

Yoshiko knew she can’t wait to take a shot, theres no point if the other two hits their target. She also knew if she misses then waiting for the sphere to exit the shot zone and waiting for the next launch could cost her too. She has one shot and needs to make it count. She heard two bolts fire to her right and looked as they both missed. Yo smacked her lips as she was sure she got the timing right. Yoshiko quickly looked at her sphere and took a quick measurement of it. The third launch happened and Yoshiko got her spot where she wants to shoot. Yo made an adjustment to her miss. Sayaka missing two shots had a grasp at where she needs to shoot. Yoshiko eyes lit up as she flicked her wand before the other two could. Bang, Yoshiko hits her target, sealing the victory for Guilty Kiss. Yo hit her target followed by Sayaka.

“Guilty Kiss wins!!!” Honoka announced. Cheers erupted from the Guilty Kiss stands while quiter cheers and claps can be heard from the others.

“You did it!” Riko ran and hugged Yoshiko as she got back to the team. Yoshiko blushed, not sure what to do at the surprise hug from her girlfriend, but regained her thoughts and hugged back.

“Nice work there kid.”

“You had me worried when you let the spheres fly by twice. If someone else had hit their mark, then you would’ve heard it from Yazawa-sensei for not shooting.”

“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure I had my timing for it.”

Everyone returned to the benches of their respective teams. Riko was in a really good mood and practically dragged Yoshiko as she pulled her along. Nico gave her team a thumb’s up and looked over to Kotori and Rin with a grin. Soon enough, the individual portion was starting and the participants walked up in the groupings they were assigned.

“Hmhm~, with Mari, we’ll take home the top spot here also.”

“Really Yazawa-sensei?” Riko asked.

“You don’t know it from her behavior, but she’s one of the top shooters in the shool. Though having Dia and Kanan there worries me. Still, if she can take the top spot, I can live with 2nd and 3rd belonging to one house. A sweep of the standings is also welcome.”

Mari was in the first grouping, Kanan in the second, Chika in the third, and Dia in the fourth. The top two from each group will advance to the final where all eight will shoot at the same time for the top three spots where the house points are. There are eight representatives from each house.

As Nico said, Mari dominated her group, clearing out all her waves before the next closest could start theirs.  Kanan took first in her group and it was a closer affair than she had hope. Dia won her group with almost stunning grace. Chika’s was a three way race for the top two spots, but she came out on top.

In the final round, there were three representatives form Cyaron and Azalea, while Guilty Kiss had the last two spots. Kotori was happy, as she was hoping for a sweep. Nico with only two representatives can’t get the sweep, but is almost certain she’ll have the top spot. Rin ran over to her three representatives and gave thema quick pep talk.

The final round is simple with each participant has to clear their wave of spheres. Each wave will get further and further away. Whoever clears all waves first wins. Honoka gave the signal to start and the spheres began to fly.

Bolts were flying everywhere as the eight participants hit their waves of spheres. Mari, Kanan, and Dia were composed and collected, hitting every sphere efficiently. Chika rang up the rear behind them. As the spheres beagn to be further away, shots slowed down as the shooters don’t want to miss. The pressure was on and it didn’t help that Mari, Kanan, and Dia were ahead with taking the top three spots certain. Chika was still on their trail though and she knows if there was a slight opening then she could sqeeze out a placing.

They are now a little over half way done with the competition. The distance has grown to where their the leaders have to slow down to measure their shots now. Chika has now caught up, but in terms of clearing, she is still behind. One sphere came up, and she shot it down. Then another, followed by another, to which Chika hit.

“Woah, Chika-chan is doing really well.”

“See, all our training worked.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t from the fact that you banned mikans if she couldn’t hit a high percentage of her shots?”

“Maybe~” Yo said playfully with her housemates laughing. She wanted Chika to improve her accuracy, so she used mikans as hostage against Chika. Chika whined at why she would do that, but the results were paying off.  They watched as the top four now entered the final wave. The distance is now at the point where the energy bolt would arc down. The four girls began their clearance. One after another the spheres were shot down. Mari was calm and confident at her skills as she hit her spheres at the peak of their flight. Chika waited after the peak to shoot hers. Kanan and Dia were even as they approached their shots the same way, just as the spheres began to descend.

“Lock On~!” Mari fired and hit her last sphere taking 1st place. Kanan, Dia, and Chika didn’t lose their focus as its now a fight for the last two spots. Kanan stuck with her plan, but Dia decided that she’ll shootat the spheres just before they hit their peaks. Dia missed her first shot which was met with a disgruntled look. She felt like she calibrate the distance and arc properly. She recovered with her second shot as it hits her target. Kanan had a lead for 2nd and eventually closed it out. Now Dia and Chika are on the last sphere. Dia went ahead and fired early for she feels she has the timing down. Chika took the chance and decided to wait for it to start descending before she fired. Dia’s shot hit and so did Chika’s.

“Shot from Dia Kurosawa was not a clean hit. Therefore, 3rd place goes to Chika Takami.”

At the end Mari took 1st place, followed by Kanan, and surprisingly Chika took 3rd place. Kotori was slightly disappointed that she couldn’t take two spots but was nonetheless happy with 2nd. Rin congratulated her team, a 2nd place finish in the team portion and 3rd in the singles was a good haul. Nico of course was hyped up with taking 1st pace in both teams and singles. She offered the team a homecooked Nico special meal, which was met with loud cheers as they knew Nico’s cooking is top notch considering she helps cook the school food when Honoka needs an extra hand.

“I thought I had you there for a second Mari.”

“Oh no no no my dear. I won’t lose to you and Dia here.”

“Yayyyy! I placed. Let us celebrate with a mikan salad.

“That’s just plain mikans then Chika-chan.”

“I’m so sorry Ruby, I failed.” Ruby was consoling her sister. Dia was in the top 3, but her sudden decision to change her plans ended up costing her.

“I-its okay onee-chan, you looked amazing and elegant up there.”

“She’s right! Come here, give me and Kanan a big hug to lift your spirits.” Mari and Kanan gave Dia hug to which Dia half returned.

Everyone was in high spirits outside of Dia. Riko had fun with this, she felt like she did a good job for her team and they won. It was especially enjoyable knowing that Yoshiko was with her and helped her practice. After a quick break to close out the event, they walked through the side gardens and saw the Headmistress and Vice-Headmistresses enjoying some tea and talking over plans for the next school events. Near the front there were students wandering about and some of the teachers chatting with one another. Kanan suggested they go to the small pier by their dorm. They all headed there and hung out with some of the other students. The water was cold, but some still jumped in and swam which included Kanan and Yo. Hanamaru, Chika, and Ruby were fishing a bit further up. Mari pulled out a beach chair and rested near the shack. Dia, Riko, and Yoshiko sat at a table and talked with some of the other students.

Beyond the school grounds, there stood a figure observing the school. A beast suddenly walked up behind her and growled. She raised her hand up to stop the beast. “Soon my dear, it’ll be our time soon.”


	17. Regular Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today. Here's the 1st.

“Woah, Chika-chan you uh got some green in your hair.”

“Yes Yoshiko-chan I know.”

“Its Yohane!”

“Chika-chan here was messing around with the potions and mixed together stuff she wasn’t supposed to. It bursted and some of it got in her hair. Oh but don’t worry, sensei said it wasn’t dangerous.”

“She should join Guilty Kiss, I guess we have a…. mikan gone bad.” The joke was bad. Chika, Yo, and Yoshiko stared at the source of the joke. Either the joke was that bad or they were more surprised that Riko came up with that joke. There was an awkward silence as they walked to the Cyaron houses.

“Welcome back, Chika what happ…?”

“Don’t ask Ruby-chan, I’m going to wash my hair.”

Yoshiko and Riko sat at the table while Yo went to her room to put up her school stuff. They started talking about the spars that happened this morning in Defense class. Yoshiko was surprised to find that Umi wanted to spar against her. She took it as a compliment and agreed. It did not end well as Umi beat Yoshiko without moving from her spot.

“I knew Sonoda-sensei was tough, but man, I didn’t even get a chance to do anything. She never flinched or moved from her spot once.”

“Well she was top of her class I heard and she trained in different battle styles from birth.”

“It’s okay to take the L, I mean your pretty girlfriend nursed you back up.” Yo said coming out of her room.

“I was worried; I mean Yoshiko-chan could’ve been hurt or something.”

“This mortal vessel is tougher than it looks.”

“Then I shouldn’t try to heal you then?”

“No.. I mean, if my eternal partner is worried for my well being, then I have no qualms over you healing me.”

“Thanks.” Riko pulled out book and a letter she received from lunch fell out of her bag. Yoshiko saw it and could only sigh as she knew what the contents were as they were similar to her letter.

“Hey, who’s that letter from.” Chika was already out of the bathroom, her hair now cleaned of green.

“My mother. She wanted to tell me about her time with someone.” Then all of a sudden the door was kicked open.

“Hiiiiiii~. How’s my underclassman doing this fine afternoon?”

“Did you really need to do that? Ruby almost fell out of her seat.”

“Of course Yo, sometimes you just get the feeling of kicking a door open and you just do it.” Mari came in followed by Kanan, Dia, and Hanamaru.

“Sorry for that girls, what are y’all talking about?”

“Ne ne Kanan, Riko-chan’s mom sent her a letter talking about someone she met.”

“Ah love, first the daughter and now her mom. Isn’t it grand?”

“Mari, could you calm down a bit. You’re gonna stress out Riko-san.”

“So? Who is this person your mother has been seeing?” Riko didn’t respond, her eyes wondered the room and landed on Yoshiko. Mari saw it and a sudden thought came to her.

“No! Yoshikocchi, you’ve been secretly dating your girlfriend’s mother?”  A unified “Ehhhhhhhh?” could be heard and both Yoshiko and Riko choked on air at the ridiculous claim.

“What? No! Riko’s mom is dating my mom.”

“Ehhhhhhhhh?” Everyone said in unison again.

“For reals?”

“Wow, is this a coincidence or something else?”

“Ohohoho, so the daughters are dating each other and now the mothers are too. Shiny~”

“Well they met after we left for school on the first day. Yoshiko’s mother invited mine out for coffee, and then it kind of took off from there is what she said in her letter. “Can we drop this topic; it’s a bit embarrassing right now.”

They all agreed to move on from this topic and on to something else, that something else being homework. The 2nd years decided to help the 1st years with their homework. There were some rules set up to ensure maximum efficiency. Don’t let the couple be together. Don’t let Mari teach Riko or Yoshiko. Keep Dia away from Ruby. Dia was helping Yoshiko and Chika, the slackers of the group. Kanan was helping Ruby and Riko. While Mari was helping Hanamaru and Yo, okay more like it was Hanamaru working and Mari kind of lazed around. You could hear the moans of Yoshiko and Chika as the strict Dia ensured that they did everything with full effort. It was quieter on Kanan’s side as she probably had the easiest pair as Riko and Ruby were already good student. On Mari’s end, you could hear a snore as she took a nap letting Hanamaru help Yo out.

“She really goes at her own pace doesn’t she? zura”

“I guess that’s why she’s at Guilty Kiss.”

"Oh~ Kanan, don't touch me there *snore*.. Huhuhu Dia, you naughty girl you *snore*"

"Uh okay, let's pretend we didn't hear that."

“Anyways, Dia wanted to bring her to Azalea, but she fits more with Guilty Kiss’ aesthetic. That’s also why she is fond of Yoshiko-chan so much. Kind of like kindred spirits in randomness.”

“We’re not like that.”

“Oh please, Yoshiko-san you and Mari go and do stupid things on a whim.”

“She required my powers to assist in matters that were to keep the school in balance.”

“I don’t think blowing up the alchemy room counts as keeping things in balance. What were you two trying to make anyways?”

“It’s a secret between sisters.”

“You’re sisters now?”

“The contract was formed.” Their conversation continued like this. Just usual school girl banter, these were the days that were special for them as there are times during the year where you could go through a day without seeing one or the other because of varying factors.

**Hallway of a dorm:**

“Hey did you hear? Apparently the wolves up in the cliffs near town are still there.”

“Why? They should be gone by now.”

“Nobody knows, but they never bothered anybody. Though there has been a decrease in some wildlife in the area.”

“Wow, lets be sure not to go up there when we are in town. C’mon lets get some food before we head back.”

“Ne ne, the festival is happening soon. Are you going?”

“Yeah! Wouldn’t want to miss the good food and games.”


	18. The Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 2nd of two chapters today

It was late November, December is soon to arrive and some students are already planning out what to do for Christmas break. Theres a small festival being held in Takama and some students are going to unwind a bit. Aqours agreed to go as they were eating lunch together.

“How is the festival there?”

“Its probably not as grand compared to what you get back home, but they do a really good job at getting as much stuff in it as possible.”

“Theres a bookstore that only opens up a few times a year and it sells some old books that are hard to find if that is any interest to you Hanamaru-san.”

“There’ll be plenty of street performers and stalls with games for us to play. What do you think Yo-chan and Yoshiko-chan, think you two can beat me?”

“You’re on Kanan-chan.”

“Kukuku don’t cry when you lose knowing you challenged the great Yohane.”

“Onee-chan, what are we wearing?”

“I would say a kimono, but we should just wear our casual clothes. I would like not to have any hindrances especially when it comes to beating Kanan and Mari.”

“Tsk tsk Dia, excuse excuses for when you lose. Hope you’re ready for when I take my prize when I win, you too Kanan” Mari raised her hands in a washi washi position.

“It goes through the whole day right?”

“2 days actually, one is more for fun and games. The other is more rituals and performances. Although both are available on both days.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait!”

The first day of the festival has arrived. Riko and Yoshiko went to wake Mari up, which they probably regretted. Mari was laid in bed not wanting to move. When they tried to wake her up, Mari grabbed both of them and pulled them into bed with her. She hugged them tight not wanting to let go. It took a while for them to break free and finally got her up. When they arrived at the docks, Dia, Kanan, Ruby, and Hanamaru were already there. Yo soon arrived running and pulling Chika with her. They got on the boat and headed to Takama. It was early, there were some people there already enjoying what the festival had to offer.

“Why are we here early?” Chika asked.

“Its better to see some of these things early before it gets crowded. Then you can remember what to visit when the rest of the stalls and stands open up.” 

“As Kanan said, you can also go visit the stores here and use the mail service near the docks to get your stuff sent back to campus. Who knows what will be left by the time the festival starts in full effect.”

“Oh then I’ll go to the bookstore then, zura. Care to join me Ruby?”

“Okay Hanamaru-chan.”

“Yoshiko-chan, lets go too.” Riko grabbed Yoshiko’s hand and pulled her towards some stores.

“Yo-chan, I wanna check that over there.”

“Sure thing Chika-chan.”

The 2nd years wondered around the town enjoying sights and the slightly quiet town. Hanamaru was glowing at all the different books available at the special bookstore that only opens on certain times of the year. Ruby couldn’t help but giggle at Hanamaru’s child like aura when it came to books and food. The bookstore owner came over and offered assistance and insights on the kinds of books they sold, and also the reason they only open on certain days of the year. Hanamaru could appreciate what the bookstore was trying to do and she bought quite a number of books. Ruby looked around the front of the store and found some book covers. A dark pink one with yellow flowers caught her eye and Ruby bought it. When Hanamaru came back from the back, Ruby handed her the book cover. Hanamaru smiled and hugged Ruby for the gift. When they left the store Hanamaru said that they should head over to mail service and get the books sent to campus before they continued looking around.

Riko and Yoshiko were at an accessory store. They both looked at the different offerings and there were some special ones made available only during the festival. While browsing the ring section, Yoshiko took a long look at the section; she stood there then glanced over at Riko who was looking at brooches. Then she took a glance at Riko’s hands and then back to the rings before Riko can notice anything. Riko called Yoshiko over, breaking her away from her thoughts, and they both looked at the bracelets and bangles. They then saw a matching set of bangles. One was pink with some dark silver lines running through, while the other was dark silver with pink lines. The clerk noticed and offered her assistance; she also told them that they should pick a charm to put on them. Riko chose a little devil one and Yoshiko bought a cherry blossom one. They both then exchanged the gifts to each other. The clerk thanked them with a playful tone and wished them the best.

Chika and Yo were in a boat shop. Yo was carefully looking around the ship models to see which one she doesn’t have yet. Chika found some cute straps and decided to get two. She ran over to Yo and offered one to her. It was in the shape of a mikan, to which Chika said it was to prevent scurvy for her sailor friend. Yo laughed and thanked her, she then picked up the ship model she wanted and went to checkout. Chika was waiting by the exit and Yo came with a small gift for Chika. It was a hairclip in the shape of a sailor cap and she replaced the clover one Chika had and put it on. Chika thanked her and they exited the store. Yo also noticed a strap in the shape of a boat in Chika’s pocket and smiled when she saw it.

The 2nd years were enjoying some takoyaki on a bench near the stand. They enjoyed a nice chat and gave each other smirks’ knowing what was about to happen when the others arrived. Mari got up and ran off making Kanan and Dia chase her. She then turned into a store and the two followed in with her. They saw lines of shelves and were trying to find their friend. When they turned the corner, there was Mari looking at something. They went up to see she was looking a music box. The music box was playing a nice sweet melody and the piece inside were three small bears holding hands. One was yellow, then blue, then red. Kanan and Dia looked at each other and called the store clerk over and bought the music box for Mari. Mari gave them both a big hug and they returned the hug.

Once Aqours reunited, the streets were busy and the stalls and stands have all opened. They went together as a group stall to stall. They enjoyed the food and played whatever games caught their interest. They did not forget about Kanan’s challenge though so Kanan, Dia, Mari, Yo, and Yoshiko competed at the game stalls that they ran into. They started off easy; throw the rings into the moving bottles. It may have been too easy as the five of them didn’t miss. They chose their prizes and went on to the next one. This time throw the ball from a distance to the line of bottles on the table. Kanan went first, confident in her skills. She winded up and threw the ball with some curve. She was able to knock all the bottles down and gave her 4 challengers a smug smile. They smacked their lips and took their turns. They all failed to knock all the bottles down and Kanan laughed at them on the way to the next game.

Next was goldfish scooping, they looked for the toughest looking fish to catch and the stal worker pointed them to what they were looking for. Then they took turns to catch it with only one poi. Dia went first, she steadied her breath, reading the movements of the fish. Her hands were steady waiting for the right moment to strike, just as the fish began to stop, Dia went in for the scoop. She raised it up and saw her poi broke. Next came Mari, her plan was to just wing it while screaming “Shiny”. The moment the fish made contact the poi, it broke. Yoshiko’s turn went by quick; she had it in the water and just the water broke her poi, she curses her luck. Kanan and Yo had no problems; they were able to in tune themselves with the movement of the water and the fish. They scooped it up and grinned in victory.

The next game was another ring toss, but this time you land it on the prize you want. Yoshiko saw a cat plush that peaked her interest so she aimed solely at that. She carefully aimed her toss and it landed on her mark. She got the cat plush and began walking towards Riko. Riko was watching the five girls compete while she was with Hanamaru, Ruby, and Chika, enjoying some takoyaki. She saw Yoshiko come up to her and handed her the plush. A light blush appeared on her face and the snickers of the others were heard. The cat plush also coincidentally looked like Yoshiko as it had dark blue fur and pink eyes.

They continued on into the night sharing laughs and stories with one another as they went around and experienced as much as they could. They were able to watch a few performances and one that hit close to home for Riko and Yoshiko was one where it told about two people who were from different worlds that became lovers through strange circumstances. There were forces that tried to break them apart, but their love kept them strong through the tough times. Riko and Yoshiko shared a sweet short kiss as the performance came to an end. Before it got too late, they returned back to school knowing that there will be more tomorrow. As they left, a cloaked figure was watching them from an obscure location on the roof of a building. The figure just smiled and watched the girls leave on boat.

“I had a good time Yocchan. What about you?”

“Yeah, I enjoyed it, but it was made better knowing you were there with me.”

“You’re such a smooth talker.” Riko hugged Yoshiko and slowly brought her in for a kiss.

“I learned from the best I guess.” Yoshiko went back in for more. They continued to press their lips together, taking only short breaths as they wanted more. Their tongues tasting the other as they fought for control. As they kissed, their bodies moved towards Yoshiko’s room, their craving for each other told them they were not ready for the night to end just yet.

The next day came and this time, the girls did not need to leave early for it as the performances were scheduled later in the day. They took the boat, not to Takama but to Yoko. They thought about visiting the shrine up there first before heading back to Takama. Seemed there were people with the same idea as it was a bit busier there than Aqours had originally thought. Riko decided to take in the view from the Cliffside a little ways out from Yoko so she told them that she’ll be back real soon. Riko walked to the cliff and saw a beautiful scene, the way the sun reflects off the ocean making it sparkle, the sea creatures swimming through the waters and birds flying over them. There was a gentle breeze, it was cool but not too cold. It was nice then Riko heard a cry;

“Wahhhhhhh!!!”

“Whats wrong? What are you doing over hear?”

“I lost my pet cat. She was with me and then ran in that direction, but I’m not suppose to go that far out of town or my parents well get mad.”

“Oh, don’t worry I’ll look for her. What’s her name?”

“Her name is Alise.”

“Ok, I’ll look for her and bring her back for you okay?”

“Thank you ms.” Riko ran off up the road to look for the cat. The little girl watched her until she was out of view then she smiled. Yoshiko felt that Riko was gone for too long and went to look for her. She looked around the area first in case Riko was back wandering around. She then told Aqours that she was going to go to the spot that Riko said she‘d be at. They agreed to go together and off to the cliff side they went. When they arrived Riko was not there. They were confused as to where she could be. The little girl appeared again.

“Umm excuse me…are you looking for someone?”

“Yeah, have you seen a red headed girl about our age? She had a part of her hair clipped to the right.”

“I saw her go in that direction looking for a lost cat. Though its dangerous I think, because they say the wolves still prowl around deep in that direction.

“Thank you.” They gave each other a nod and quickly ran in the direction the girl pointed. The girl then smiled again and transformed into an older cloaked figure.

Riko was now of the road and near the woods. She was looking for the cat and tried to look for signs of the cat being around the area.*Snap*, she turned to the direction of the sound. She couldn’t see anything though so she slowly turned back around. *Snap*, this time she got up and looked quickly in the direction of the sound. She didn’t see anything until red glowing eyes came from behind the trees. When its figure came into view, Riko fell down, her legs trembling in fear. She wanted to scream, but no sounds could come out.

The rest of Aqours was running as fast as they can trying to find Riko. Its only early afternoon, so finding her wouldn’t be too hard and the wolves should be easy to spot. They ran until they got over a hill and saw her on the ground backing away from a giant dark gray wolf like beast with a dark aura emanating from some parts of its body.

“Ririiiiiii!” Yoshiko yelled and ran towards her. Aqours followed after her. Riko looked at the direction to see her friends coming for her. It was a short lived happiness as a cloaked figure came out from the trees. She casted a chain spell and bounded Riko, picked her up, hopped onto the back of the beast and ran off.

“Get back here!” Yoshiko yelled as they gave chase. They were getting no closer as the gap increases between them and the beast. “Shadow Boost”, Yoshiko pointed her wand towards her feet and she started to run much faster now separating from the group.

“Yoshiko-chan wait… Dammit,” Kanan cursed knowing the situation can get worse if they get too far away.

“What do we do now? zura”

“I have an idea.”Chika said and everyone looked at her wondering what her idea was.

“Eroding Roots” she pointed her wand to the ground and platforms made from tree roots came up from under them acting as a vehicle, taking them to their targets.

“Woah since when could you do this?”

“Heh heh, I’ve been working on this for a while. Now lets go save Riko-chan!”


	19. Jabberwocky

_‘Beware the Jabberwock, the jaws that bite, the claws that catch.’_

_Lewis Carrol, Jabberwocky and Other Poems_

 

The chase continued, Riko’s captor up front, Yoshiko behind them, and Aqours a bit behind her. Soon the captor arrived at a rocky plateau and turned to the direction of their pursuers.

“Let Riko go!!”

“Fine.” The captor threw Riko to the ground.

“Go ahead, return to your friends.” Riko couldn’t move, her fear of dogs wouldn’t let her. The fact that the canine looking right at her was a much bigger wolf, had red demon like eyes, and large sharp teeth added to her fear. The cloaked figure got off and walked towards Aqours.

“My name is Alise and this is my pet Jabberwock. You see, she’s hungry and I figured your pretty friend here could be her really late lunch.”

“Not a chance.” Yoshiko fired an ice spike towards Jabberwock but it was intercepted by an ice spike from Alise.

“Woah there, I’m your opponent little girl. If you want to save your friend then beat me.” She then pointed her wand at Riko and the chains around her tightened.

“Fine, have it your way.” Aqours got ready for another battle. This time Yoshiko at point with Kanan and Dia next to her. Mari, Chika, Ruby, Hanamaru, and Yo behind them.

“8 vs1? That’s a bit lopsided. Jabby, be a good girl and help me.”

The Jabberwocky turned towards her master and jumped beside her, crouched and ready to pounce. On Alise’s signal the beast jumped toward Aqours. They all got out of the way and Yoshiko ran straight towards Alise firing of energy bolts. Alise matched all Yoshiko’s shot with her own. Dia and Kanan joined in firing fire and water bolts respectively. Alise used “Spectre Sheen” creating a dark veil of energy blocking all the attacks from her 3 opponents.

Alise looked at her three opponents waiting to see who is going to make the first move, smiling in anticipation of some entertainment. Yoshiko flicked her wand and Alise responded readying another dark veil. It was a feint from Yoshiko, Alise stopped her cast, and Dia came up with a “Meteor Smash”. Alise ran out of the way and into a Kanan. Kanan kicked her in the stomach and shot a geyser of water at her. Alise gets pinned to boulder. Cracking can be heard from the boulder behind Alise. She aimed her wand to the ground and it cracke apart under Kanan causing her foot to slip into it. With the geyser stopped, Alise regained herself and hit Kanan with dark energy bolts. Kanan foot was stuck and she dropped her wand, so all she could do was block the shots with her arms. A fire wall erupted in front of Kanan blocking off the bolts. Dia came in and helped Kanan out of the hole and to safety.

Ice spikes came hurling Alise’s way from the left. She pointed her wand to the ground and an earth pillar was raised taking her to safety. She looked up and saw Yoshiko standing on her own pillar of ice. The two stared each other down as Dia and Kanan looked on. Alise fired ice spikes at Yoshiko. Yoshiko responded with spikes of her own hitting each one Alise shot. Seeing the stalemate won’t be broken, they both stopped. Both cocked their wands back, charging their next spell. “Thor’s Hammer”, “Storm of Decay”, both fired off a large blast of concentrated lightning, with Alise’s being engulfed in dark energy. The attacks collided, one not backing down from the other. Alise can feel she has the upper hand and began to push Yoshiko back. Yoshiko gritted her teeth, feeling the power of Alise’s attack increasing. She wasn’t sure of it, but she thought she saw glowing eyes on the other side of the lightning blasts.

Yoshiko soon felt her footing get pushed back on her pillar. She would sure get caught in the blast if her foot slips off. Yoshiko added more power to her attack hoping to at least even out the power stuggle. It did for a while, but she began to feel her power weakening. Not giving up, Yoshiko began to add some dark energy to her attack, her eyes glowed briefly; her “Thor’s Hammer” all of a sudden started to turn black. Alise felt the sudden surge of power coming from the other side not knowing where it’s coming from. She took a close look and saw something that looked like glowing eyes. Their attacks soon gave way and exploded sending Yoshiko flying off her pillar from the force. Alise fell from her pillar but was able to grab a ledge and used it to shield her from the force. Dia and Kanan came running up and caught Yoshiko.

Meanwhile the Jabberwocky was giving chase to Yo. “Thunder Rush”, “Phoenix Spiral”, Mari and Ruby fired at the beast. Both attacks connect and the beast fell over from its momentum. Chika jumped in “Titan Hammer”, a large hammer shaped from earth came from her wand and smashed into the beast sending dust flying. The 5 girls steadied themselves, before the dust settled and a stream of fire came out and barely missed Chika. The beast was back up looking more ferocious. It looked up and howled, a dark energy circle appeared above the group. They looked up and saw dark energy shot at them. Hanamaru casted a barrier over her and Ruby. Mari, Chika, and Yo rolled out from under the beam. When Yo got out of her roll, the Jabberwock charged into her smashing her into a boulder. Yo coughed out blood and the beast raised up its claw, ready to strike Yo. “Piercing Light”, Hanamaru shot her thin light blast that split into 4. They hit the raised claw and knocked them to the side. Yo used this chance to get away.

“Yo-chan are you okay?” Chika asked, worried that she took more damage than it appeared.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The beast readied another fire breath and Yo quickly responded with “Hydro Torrent” it was a more focused attack compared to Kanan’s geyser spell. She shot it and it pierced through the fire attack. Mari, Ruby, and Hanamaru followed up with a barrage of lighting, fire, and light bolts.

Yoshiko looked over to see Riko was still binded by chains. She then looked over at Alise and shot off “Thors Hammer”. Alise jumped into the air with an energy wave shot at the ground to avoid it. Just as she did Dia used “Phoenix Flare”.

“Try to dodge that.”

“Think you’re smart?” Alise quickly shot out an energy wave to maneuver her way from both attacks in the air. When she landed Kanan had aqua bombs ready and hurled them at her. Alise ran to dodge them, but one got her foot sending her tumbling on the ground. Alise however used the tumbling and shot off a dark lightning bolt mid-tumble before getting back on her feet. Kanan not expecting it could not dodge enough on time and her shoulder was grazed. A blue light shone from the ground under Alise as Yoshiko was using “Ice Pillar”. She pointed her wand to the ground and shot of fire just as the pillar erected to keep her safe. The momentum of the pillar and her fire spell pushed her up into the air again. Again Dia and Kanan took this chance and both shot off spells “Phoenix Flare” and “Heavy Geyser” respectively. The Jabberwock appeared quickly and caught her master and took her to safety away from the spells.

Aqours regrouped and looked over any injuries they received. Kanan’s shoulder was bleeding, Yo was coughing blood from being smashed into a boulder, and Chika had a gash wound on her left arm.

“When did you get hit?” Dia asked.

“I was gonna hammer it again when it wasn’t looking but it sensed me and clawed my arm before I could. We were trying to prevent it from doing what it just did.” Outside of those three injuries, the group was holding up fine.

“So what’s the plan Dia?”

“We need to get Riko, I’m worried Alise might do something drastic if we tried that though.”

“Oh yeah those chains, who knows if she’s able to constrict them or something.”

“They are also made from dark energy, so it’ll be tough to get them off, zura.”

“If we can distract them enough, maybe Yoshiko-chan can take those chains off.”

“What do you mean Chika-san?”

“Yoshiko has this blade made of dark energy, maybe she can cut those chains that are made of the same stuff.”

“Its worth a shot.”

“Yoshiko stay back, when you see an opening go save Riko.”

“Got it.”

 Alise and Jabberwock reengaged before Aqours was set. The beast jumped in the middle of them and started swinging its claws wildly. Alise was firing off spells from afar. Aqours had to balance between dodging the two and sending attacks of their own. Yoshiko made a move toward Riko only to be met by a giant fireball from Alise.

“Yoshiko, look out!” Kanan dived at Yoshiko saving her from a claw from the back. Ruby and Dia stood side by side “Twin Phoenix”, two phoenixes came out from their wands spiraling towards the Jabberwock. Kanan picked Yoshiko up and got out the way. The phoenixes combined into a cyclone of fire and crashed into the beast. Howls of pain can be heard, this was the cue as Aqours started their next attack.

Chika created a giant fist of rock “Atlas Punch” which connected to the head of Jabberwock. Yo followed in with “Poseidon Spear” a water spear impaled the beast’s body. Hanmaru readied “Itsumade’s Screech”, before she could fire it off, Alise shot dark lighting hitting her hands. Hanamaru dropped her wand and cried in pain. Mari quickly charged up “Shining Nova” and fired towards Alise, only for her to counter with “Spectre Sheen”. What caught Alise off guard was that her veil didn’t block all of the attack and some got through and grazed her shoulder.

“Hmph, guess that attack was a bit stronger than I initially thought.”

Jabberwock howled again and now it’s rough fur grows out a bit and its eyes glowed. This time more dark energy circles appeared above it aimed at Aqours. Multiple shots were fired and all Aqours could do for now was scramble around trying to avoid being hit. Kanan and Yoshiko were behind a boulder shielded from the onslaught.

“Hey, lets combine your “Thor’s Hammer” and my “Heavy Geyser”, its bound to do some real damage.”

“Alright, its firing shots everywhere, so hopefully we can cast it in time. They both got up and out in the opening and began to cast. Jabberwock was still busy with the other members so it didn’t notice them. Once done they both fired their spells together. A giant geyser of water was now combined with destructive crackles of lighting and it headed straight to Jabberwock. Alise jumped in front of Jabberwock, her eyes glowed and she fired off a huge wave of dark energy clashing with the fused attack.

“Keep pushing Yoshiko!”

“I am!” Their combined attack is being met head on with Alise’s dark blast, the attacks pushing back and forth. The high amount of energy sent sparks to the surrounding area. A crater was starting to form under the intersection point. “Phoenix Spiral” Ruby shot a spiraling blast at Alise, but Jabberwock blocked it with its claws and growled in her direction. Hanamaru’s hands were burnt and bleeding and she couldn’t help while she was trying to recover. Mari ran up behind the Jabberwock readying up “Raiju Cannon” just as she was about to fire, the Jabberwock looked in her direction and a circle of dark energy formed beside her. She didn’t flinch and tried to fire offher attack, preparing for the damage she was about to take. Chika showed up and pushed her out of the way, Mari’s attack ended up hitting the left hind leg and the dark energy blasted Chika in Mari’s place.

“Chika-chan!” Yo screamed as she ran over. Chika was screaming in pain as her right arm took the brunt of the damage. Mari was on the ground from being pushed but before she could get up, a claw came crashing down on her back. She let out a scream as the claws cut into her. Yo came up to the side “Sa Gojo Impact” a barrage of water spikes shot out. The spikes pierced a bit into Jabberwock. When the attack finished Jabberwock leaned down a bit from the damage then looked straight at Yo.

“Oh shit!” At point blank it shot a beam of fire at Yo piercing her stomach. She screamed in agony as her stomach was on fire. Eventually the clash of energy from Kanan, Yoshiko, and Alise exploded, resulting in a draw. The rsulting blast created some smoke. Kanan quickly rushed in while Yoshiko followed close behind. Dia and Ruby made their way to get Chika and Yo away from Jabberwock. Hanamaru got a talisman out and started to chant. Alise noticed and ran toward Hanamaru. Ruby stopped and tried to slow Alise down fring fireballs at her. Yoshiko, Kanan, and Dia used this chance to and attacked Jabbewock together. Yoshiko readied an “Energy Blade”, Kanan created a slew of Aqua Bombs, and Dia conjured up a swarm of “Fox Fires”. Dia and Kanan went in and fired all they had at Jabberwock. A couple of their attacks collided with each other creating a slight smoke screen. Yoshiko popped up on the left side where Mari was pinned and stabbed its left claw, the beasts howled and swiped Yoshiko away. Mari felt the claw raise up off of her and got out of range. Kanan and Dia picked up Chika and Yo and regrouped. Kanan conjured up water and started to pour some on Yo and Chika’s wounds to stop the burning. Alise dodged all of Ruby’s attacks. Before she could ready the next, Alise kicked her side and sent Ruby rolling onto the ground. Ruby stopped and looked up to see a blast of ice come at her. It hit Ruby sending her further away. Ruby got up slowly looking at the frost that’s formed on her hands and arms. Alise continued her path to Hanamaru who just finished chanting.

“Onikuma Rush” she threw the talisman forward and a spirit bear came charging forward. Alise shot some bolts at it only for it to be deflected. Then she went ahead and shot a wave of dark energy from her wand like before, the two attacks colliding.

The Jabberwock approached Yoshiko as she got up. Yoshiko still had her energy blade formed from her wand. It lunged in at her and Yoshiko dodged to the side and slashed it. It wasn’t a deep cut. ”Tch, thick skinned bastard” Jabberwock swiped its paw at Yoshiko this time and she parried it and slashed it again. This continued on as the beast and Yoshiko circled each other, attacking and dodging each other. The Jabberwock opened its mouth to shoot out fire beams. Yoshiko ran towards it dodging the beams of fire. She got close and stabbed her blade into its side. It pierced a little deep and Yoshiko felt like she’s beginning to make progress. She tried to pull the blade out but it was stuck. The Jabberwock swiped its paw back and hits Yoshiko knocking her back, dislodging her blade in the process.

“Jabberwock, lunch time.” The Jabberwock lifted its head up and jumped at Riko. Riko now stares at the Jabberwock face to face as fear took control.

“Riko!” Yoshiko got up and ran towards Riko, desperation in her face.

“Shit!” Kanan got up and ran as fast as she could, but she was too far away to make it in time.

The beast stared at Riko then it cocked back and lunge forward ready to chomp down on its food. All she could do was close her eyes with death moments away from her. *Crunch*. Riko’s eyes were closed and yet there was no pain. She didn’t feel any bites. Was she safe? Did it miss? It definitely bit down on something from the sound. She began to open her eyes, it was a bit hazy. As she opened her eyes, a horrifying realization came as she sees what happened. There in front of her was Yoshiko blood gushing out as the Beast has its teeth clamped on her left arm.

“Y-Yocchan!”

Yoshiko is barely hanging in there from the pain. The teeth was tearing flesh and muscle on her left arm. There were some moans of pain, but some of it came from the Jabberwock also. Yoshiko created an ice spike and used it to impale the jaw of the Jabberwock preventing it from completely ripping off her arm. She’s not done there. She immediately jabbed her wand into its eye and casted “Dark Ice Spike” and a black ice spike shot through the eye and stuck through the side of the Jabberwock’s head.  The Jabberwock released its grip and howled in pain. Yoshiko knelt down as the pain hits her, blood pouring out of her left arm.

“Yocchan!” Yoshiko turned to Riko giving her as much of a smile as she could. She went over to Riko and was about to pick her up.

“Yocchan watch out!!” Too late as the beast swipes Yoshiko across the side and sent her flying into a boulder. Kanan was making her way over but Alise stood in her way. She was holding Hanamaru in one arm and threw her at Kanan. Kanan caught her and sat her down her making sure Hanamaru was okay.

“Now watch as your friend dies fools!” Kanan and the rest of Aqours looked over at Riko. The beast pins Riko down with its claws and its eyes lit up. Kanan and Dia rushed forward only for Alise to get in their way.

“Dammit!!”

“MOVE OUT OUR WAY!” 

“I think not.” Alise began her fight with Kanan and Dia again. Kanan and Dia would split up with the hope that one would distract Alise enough for the other to get to Riko. Alise wasn’t having it, her attacks made sure the two stayed close to one another for her to keep an eye on.

Yoshiko watched in despair. She tried to get up but the pain is too much to bear. She staggered trying to muster her strength to stand, blood rushing down her left arm. "I can’t, not like this, I have to protect her." Yoshiko cursed herself as the pain welled up. Then nothing, the pain disappeared, her mind blank.

The beast slowly leaned into Riko and opened it mouth ready to eat. Then a loud crack of dark lightning came and pierced the Jabberwock body, felling the beast. The lightning blast didn't stop there as it ripped across the ground leaving a trail of destruction. Everyone looked in shock at the events. Alise gave a dark look at what just happened and turned to the source. What she saw put an evil smile on her face. Aqours looked the same way and was in disbelief at what they saw. There standing was Tsushima Yoshiko, but now her eyes glowed dark blue, she had a sinister grin and dark energy was flowing from her wand.


	20. Evil Grip

Yoshiko slowly walked towards the wounded Jabberwock. Every attempt the beast made to try and get up was met with more dark lightning blast. The dark energy now starting to eat away at its fur. There was then a break from the attacks. The Jabberwock sensed it and began to get up once again. It sees Yoshiko just standing there smirking, licking the blood that was dripping from her injured arm. Anger rose and the beast charged in. Yoshiko got out of the way and the beast continued to chase her down. The Jabberwock started to shoot fire and shots of dark energy at her. With each attack being dodged and countered the beast can only get angrier. Yoshiko’s back soon hit a boulder and the Jabberwock saw this as a chance and pounced into the air claws and fangs out. Yoshiko flicked her wand and an energy wave blew the Jabberwock away, sending it crashing into the ground. Soon enough dark chains came up from the ground and chained down the Jabberwock.

Everyone can only stare in bewilderment. Yoshiko was not too long ago down and out from the bite and claw strike she took protecting Riko. Now, she was playing around with the Jabberwock. Alise can only smile thinking to herself;

“Now I see why, she was interested in her.”

As the Jabberwock howled and growled, struggling to break free, Yoshiko raised up her wand and summoned a dark energy spike. She then waved her wand down and the spike pierces into the Jabberwock. She raises her wand up again, summons another spike, then attacked again. Again and again, energy spike after energy spike, formed and pierced the Jabberwock repeatedly. What was once growls became weak whimpers. Blood splattered everywhere around the Jabberwock including onYoshiko. Yoshiko just stared as she attacks, eyes devoid of mercy and pity.

“YOCCHAN stop it! Please stop.” With those words Yoshiko stopped. She looked at the source of the call to see Riko near tears, begging her to stop. She looked back at the Jabberwock. The beast was barely breathing; its fur lost the grayish color it once had as it’s now covered in a blood. Its eyes have grown dark until it finally stops breathing. The Jabberwock has died. There was a long moment of silence, the only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing and the rustling of the grass.

“Bravo! Braaaavoooo! You did well, and now you have my full attention little girl.” Yoshiko just stared at Alise as she walks towards her clapping her hands.

“What, you aren’t gonna talk? Well that’s fine.” Alise readies her wand and Yoshiko did it too.

“Now let’s have some fun shall we?” Alise fired fireballs at Yoshiko. Yoshiko matched each shot and started dashing towards Alise. “Erupting Fissure”, Alise aimed at Yoshiko’s feet and a small fissure opened up beneath her. One of her legs fall into it and a burst of fire exploded upwards. Yoshiko rolled on the ground back up on her feet. Her left leg is now bloodied but it didn’t stop her as she ran and sent energy bolts at Alise. They went toe to toe trading away spells until Alise noticed that the strength of Yoshiko’s spells was weakening. She charged up and fired off the dark energy blast like she did before against Kanan and Yoshiko. Yoshiko countered with “Breath of the Northern Tundra”. The attack clashed and pushed each other back and forth as the two sorceresses battled for control. Alise upped the power and started to push Yoshiko back a bit. Yoshiko upped the power of her own and pushed Alise back herself continuing the stalemate between the two.

Soon a headache arrived and Yoshiko flinched, Alise sensed the weakened attack and pushed with everything. Her spell disperses Yoshiko’s and hits her sending her flying backwards. Alise looked at her downed opponent, seeing if she has had enough. Yoshiko started to get up again, struggling to regain her balance. Bolts of energy were fired and Yoshiko erected an ice pillar to block it. She casted “Shadow Boost” and began to make her way to Alise. Alise created an earth pillars to block her path then one beneather her. Yoshiko saw this and aimed her wand below. She shot an energy wave launching herself to Alise. Alise surprised at the move, reacted with a blast of lightning. Yoshiko shot another energy wave off sending her over the attack and now heading for Alise. They both shot dark energy at each other and the collsion caused an explosion blowing both of them away.

Yoshiko landed and rolled on the ground before getting back up on her feet. Pain at this point was an after thought as a need to kill fills her mind. Alise got up from the ground and was thinking of a way to down Yoshiko. She knows that the injuries are hindering Yoshiko, so she wants to knock her out before things get dicey. As she was in thought, dark ice spikes caem flying her way. Quickly realizing her lack of focus, she casted a dark veil, absorbing the spikes. She soon got out of the way and the veil dispersed letting the rest of the spikes to fly by. She looked towards Yoshiko, only to see that Yoshiko is up to her face, dark blue eyes with murderous intent, was what she could sense from her opponent. Alise aimed her wand at Yoshiko and Yoshiko aimed at Alise. They both shot blast of ice into each other knocking each other back.  The two recovered and were ready for more.

Yoshiko erected two ice pillars in front of her. Alise was caught off guard by that move and cocked her wand, waiting for Yoshiko to run out somewhere. After a few seconds of not seeing her, Alise shot a lightning blast at the first pillar. It broke but there wasn’t enough energy to destroy the second and Alise fired again. The second pillar broke and from behind came a roaring ice dragon. Alise responded to the sudden attack with a blast of ice. The attacks clashed but it was different from before. Yoshiko’s attack was stronger as it pushed Alise’s back.

“There’s no way I’ll lose to you.” Alise’s eyes glowed once again and she began pouring dark energy into her attack. It began to work as she regained control of the duel. Her attack steadily pushed Yoshiko back and back until she came to a stop. Yoshiko glared at Alise and her ice dragon began to grow black streaks across its body. A sudden shiver ran down Alise’s back as she sensed this forboding energy. Yoshiko began to push back as she amps up her power. Alise responded with more power on her end. The two dark ice attacks continue to push one another back and forth as the ground froze up beneath them. The air got cold, crackling of ice can be heard, and glimmers of ice could be seen in the air around them.

The stalemate would come to an end with the roar of a dragon as it finally breaks through, crashing into Alise. Alise knew how lucky she was as the attack seemed to lose its power for whatever reason once it hit her. She laid there on the ground, panting heavily. Yoshiko walked up to Alise, not looking so good herself, but still maintained the stone cold look of a killer. She smiles a bit as she looks down at Alise.

“Heh, you should really not let your guard down.” As she says that a blinding light flared up at Yoshiko’s face then a lightning blast into her body. The blast carried Yoshiko back across the field.

“Had enough you brat?” Alise said as she stood up.

“….” No words came from Yoshiko’s end as she stood up herself.

“Tch, can’t you just be a good girl and fall?” Both combatants were ready for more.

“Tsushima-san, stand down!”

“You too criminal!” Everyone looked in the direction of the voices. The voices belonged to Sonoda Umi and Nishikino Maki. They ran up to the two fighters with their wands drawn.

“Sonoda-sensei, Nishikino-sensei, what are you doing here?”

“This no time for questions Kurosawa-san.”

“There are more important things to… hey!” Before Maki could finish, Yoshiko passed out. The two teachers approached Yoshiko carefully, making sure to keep an eye on Alise. When they confirmed that Yoshiko was fine they had their full attention on Alise.

“So, what was your purpose here?”

“Like I’ll answer that. Are you two here to die with your students?”

“Nobody is dying today, unless you want to.”

“Then try me.” Alise shot off dark lightning. Maki created a shield of fire to block. The lightning fizzles out and from the behind the shield of flame came an arch of water aimed into the air then splits into arrows of water raining down towards Alise. Alise began to run to avoid the rain of arrows. The arrows left sizable dents on to the ground showing the strength of the attack. The arrows stopped and now Maki and Umi are rushing to Alise. The three traded away bolts of energy as Maki and Umi began to split up widening the area of attacks. The attacks form Alise’s end started to slow down. Umi shot out a torrent of water and Maki shot out a torrent of fire at Alise who dodges it. The water and fire clashed creating steam on the battlefield. Alise’s vision was obscured being the closest to the clash of fire and water. She was at the center of the mist and she knows that was a disadvantage.  She tried to get out of the steam only to see a flash heading in her direction. A cross of fire came hurling her way. She got out of the way and out of the steam to only see Umi shoot a water dragon shaped blast at her. It connects and sends her into a boulder. The force continues to crush her as it sends her through the boulder.

Alise opened her eyes and tried to recover from the attack only to see fireballs raining down on her from the sky. She quickly got up and started running, the fireballs missed but instead of leaving craters like normal fireballs, parts of the ground were melting.

“Don’t want to get hit with that.” Alise thought to herself as she realizes that the situation was not in her favor. She ran to think of something to turn the situation around and then Umi popped up in front of her readying to fight in close quarters. Umi sent a flurry of kicks and punches. Alise responded with blocks and counters. Umi was able to block all of Alise’s moves then she mixed in water bolts into the close quarters fight. Kick, turn, bolt, duck, block, bolt, punch, bolt, bolt, Umi flawlessly combo’d her moves together. Then another bright flash appears from behind Alise and a fire dragon came roaring at her. Umi kicked her in the chest and got out the way. Alise gets caught by the dragon, as its flames burns her back, Alise screaming from the pain.

“Surrender now.” Alise laid on the ground trying to get up, her back searing in pain from Maki’s attack.

“Don’t you dare insult me.” She got up and attacked. “Nasu no Yoichi”, Umi casted before she could attack, a giant water arrow piercing through Alise. Alise knelt down, breathing hard doing the best she can to stay conscious, blood spreading on her shirt from the wound. She reached into her outfit and started to cast something. Umi and Maki approached her and she threw a charm up and dark energy covered her. When the dark energy dissipates she was gone. Maki and Umi scanned the area to see if she is still here, believing that was an escape spell she used. They couldn’t find her and relaxed, putting away their wands. Umi went over to Riko to dispel her chains then went over to Yoshiko. Maki went over to the other to check on injuries and treat whatever she could until they got back to school.

“How bad is Tsuhima’s injuries?

“Well, the burn on her legs isn’t as bad as it looked initially. Her left arm needs some serious treatment and rehab to fix up the damage from the bite. She’ll be fine with time.”

“The others?”

“They’ll be fine. Watanabe might have to watch what she eats for a bit. The wounds on Ohara’s back aren’t gravely deep. We’ll have to treat the burns on Kunikida’s hands and Takami’s arm. I also need to sew up that gash on Takami’s left arm. Ruby Kurosawa, appears to have some frostbite, so we need to treat that carefully. The others have minor injuries.”

“Seriously, its always you 9 isn’t it?” Umi let out a long sigh looking over at the dead Jabberwock and then at Yoshiko. They rested up a bit before they return back to the school. Riko carried Yoshiko on her back and Chika was trying to hold Yo up since there was a hole in her stomach. Once they returned, Maki and her assistants were able to fully treat the girls of their injuries. They were all told to return to their rooms once they get food.

There was a nice soft melody playing through the room. The keys were pressed firmly by slim fingers. Each note carefully played as to keep the piece together. Then the tone slowed down, was it sad? The slow paced continued for a while then a pause. As the piece started up again, Yoshiko began to wake up. She was groggy and her left arm and leg were aching badly. She sat up on her bed trying to get her bearings. She was in her room and wearing a black tank top and black shorts. She noticed the heavy bandages on her left arm and left leg. She got up and the pain almost sent her down on the floor. She mustered her strength and stood back up. There was pain, but Yoshiko dealt with it and started to walk out towards the sound of the music.

There on the piano sat Riko. It was times like this where she had nothing to do, was she able to find time to play the piano. She was playing beautifully with grace, but there was sadness in her heart. It could be felt through the music. She didn’t notice Yoshiko coming out of the back.

“Riri?” The playing stopped and Riko looked back at an injured Yoshiko. Tears welled up and she ran over to Yoshiko and hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go. She cried onto Yoshiko’s shoulder apologizing over and over again.

“Yocchan, Yocchan, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Yoshiko could only hug back, not knowing what to say. After what happened, it was tough to come up with something to calm her girlfriend down. Being attaked by a giant wolf, the fight with Alise, their friends getting hurt, her getting her arm almost chewed off. Anybody would break down going through that. The pain from her left arm came up again and another headache.

“Riri, my…. left arm hurts.”

“Oh, sorry.” Riko loosened up her hug a bit and moved her arms down to Yoshiko’s waist.

“It’s just, I’m so gald you’re awake. The injuries looked so bad… and they said it might, it might take a while for you to wake up and I j-just sat there and couldn’t do anything and and…” Riko started to cry again. Yoshiko this time brought her in for a hug and stroked her back comforting her.

“Its ok Riri, I’d do anything to save you. When that incident happened, I was going to save you no matter what and I’m sure if I’m ever in trouble, you’d do the same and do everything you can to save me.”

“Yocchan, I wish… I could’ve done more, but…. I froze up in fear.”

“I know. Your fear of dogs overtook your senses. It happens, but we’re both here now, together.” Yoshiko yawned a bit and Riko told her to go get some rest. Yoshiko didn’t let go of her when Riko tried to go to her room. She pulled on Riko’s shirt and Riko knew what to do. They both laid in Riko’s bed holding each other, looking at each other.

“Yocchan, would you really come save me no matter what?”

‘Of course.”

“If I was locked up in a tower?”

“Yes.”

“In some underwater prison?”

“Yep”

“Tied to an alter ready to be sacrificed for some ritual?”

“Riri, I’ll go to heaven and hell for you. I’ll beat any person, god, demon, or monster to save you.”

“Of course you would. I’m your elite little demon after all.”

“You’re my Riri.”

“And you’re my Yocchan. I love you.”

“I love you too.”


	21. Christmas Plans

“Tsushima-san, thank you for coming to my office.”

“Its no problem. Why did you call me here Headmistress Tsubasa?”

“I wanted to discuss the incident a few days ago. I wanted to do it earlier, but figured you and the rest of your group need to rest. Aqours is what you called yourselves correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ll talk to you all later, but for now let’s focus on you.” There was a heavy atmosphere in the Headmistress’ office. Kira walked around, just looking and fixing up some of the objects she had in her office. Some books, a globe, vials of potions, pictures, stacks of papers, and magical items.

“Ummmm…”

“It would appear from the reports that you used quite a bit of dark magic.”

“Oh, it was only a few spells.”

“More than a few, I don’t know if you were aware of the amount you used if you were in a corrupted state.”

“It was under control.”

“I don’t think so; you basically massacred the Jabberwock when it was already defeated.”

“It was in defense.”

“It was chained down and could not move. You relentlessly attacked it, and it took Sakurauchi-san yelling at you to stop. I know it’s a dangerous beast, but the signs of danger on you were there. Not to mention, you fought this Alise in that state also.”

“……..”

‘Look, I understand you wanted to save your friends. We all would go through extreme lengths to save our loved ones. But, there was no mistaking that corruption is in you now.”

“…..”

“Despite some of your scores in classes, you are a great student with potential. Sonoda, Nishikino, Yazawa, and Hoshizora had high remarks for your skills. I just want to know, can we be sure that you won’t let the corruption consume you?”

“I won’t let it.” Yoshiko said with a stern look on her face.

“I’ll take your word for it……. Dark magic is a fickle thing isn’t it Tsushima-san?”

“Yeah.”

“I understand it has potential for improving the magic world. It can also destroy it. Many great scholars and researchers have tried to solve its mysteries and sadly they all failed. The corruption either killed them are turned them evil. You and your mother are interesting, with the stuff you all did and yet here you two are, still good. Your group’s exploits actually have our staff working harder. Minami and Hoshizora were able to study the body of the Jabberwock and Jurogumo’s spiders up close. Koizumi and Nishikino got to study more plants, poisons, and cures. Sonoda and Ayase actually hunted down some criminals themselves from their patrols. Kousaka cranked up food production, though I’m sure its more for her bread obsession along with Kunikida’s. Seriously, those two could eat our whole school reserves dry. Yazawa complains about all the extra work, but there was a sense of pride that her own residents accomplished great things. In short, be careful, I’d rather not have to slay my own student.”

“I understand Headmistress.”

“Good, you can leave. I’ll just make a quick reprimand when I see you and your group later.”

Its December now, the temperature has gotten cold. There are bits of snow here and there. Students are wearing extra layers to keep warm. The campus is being decorated with Christmas decorations by the students. A big Christmas tree stood in the middle of the central yard decorated from top to bottom with ornaments, charms, ribbons, etc. The halls were decorated with all kinds of ornaments, mantles, flowers, wreathes, etc. Students had the option to stay on campus or go home. Staying on campus wasn’t a problem as there will still be staff staying and transportation is available to Takama and Yoko. Aqours was enjoying lunch in Mari’s room discussing what they are doing for Christmas.

“I’m going to go sailing with my family, its time for me to experience the big ocean as Captain Yo.”

“I want to go with you, but it’s the holidays and my family inn is going to be busy, so I gotta help.”

“That’s okay Chika-chan, I’m going to help out at my family’s temple. Zura.”

“I’m going to an island resort! It be nice if Kanan and Dia joined me.”

“We’re going to go Hokkaido for family stuff, so I can’t.”

“And a concert! Saint Snow will be there.”

“Bah! If they’re ready for round two then I’m ready to show them the pride of a Kurosawa.”

“Sorry Mari, busy with my shop.”

“I’ll just relax at home and maybe help my mom with research or something.”

“I’m not going to do anything special, probably spend time with my mom.”

“You two aren’t going to spend time together? It’s normal for couples to spend Christmas together you know.” Mari said raising her eyebrows suggesting something. Yoshiko and Riko didn’t respond as Mari continued to ask them questions. Dia told Mari to leave them alone as she sipped some tea. When the snacks were finished everyone went their separate ways.

“Would you like to spend time during Christmas together Yocchan?”

“Huh? Oh ummm ye-yeah I would like to.”

“Then should we meet somewhere? Also, we should hangout at each other houses sometime during the break.

“Yeah, I think we should talk to our moms first. I’d rather not run into them in the middle of their date while we are on ours.”

“Right, it.. would be awkward wouldn’t it?”

As Christmas soon arrived, Aqours all went home for whatever they had planned. Yoshiko and Riko arrived back at the train station together to a sight of their mom’s waiting together holding hands. They felt somewhat awkward with their moms openly showing their affections for one another. It didn’t help that Yoshiko’s mom suggested they go eat together. They ate at a family restaurant and had to watch as their mom’s flirted with each other. Yoshiko’s mom was feeding Riko’s mom food. There was a time where Riko’s mom licked some crumbs off the side Yoshiko’s mom’s lips. They even egged on Riko and Yoshiko to flirt themselves. They can only feel embarrassment the longer they spent time with them. Yoshiko’s mom decided that she should drop the Sakurauchi’s off at home first. Yoshiko didn’t reject the idea for she wanted to see where Riko’s house was. Once that was done, the Tsushima’s returned home. Their houses weren’t that far away. Maybe a 20 minute walk, 25 at most. Yoshiko wondered how come they’ve never met before and forgot that she rarely got out to meet people. Yoshiko’s mom added that they also recently move there, maybe about a year ago or so which means they were barely there for six months when school started.

The day of Christmas arrived; Riko and Yoshiko were originally supposed to meet up at a restaurant for lunch. Yoshiko decided it be cooler for her to go early and pick Riko up at her house. When Riko opened the door she was shocked to see Yoshiko was there picking her up for their date.

“Wow, I didn’t think you would be early for anything.”

“Shut up, I can do it if I try.”

“Maybe you should try more at school then.”

“Hrgh….w-whatever. Are you ready or not?”

“Sure, let me get my boots.”

The two girls begin their date. The first stop would be a little lunch; Yoshiko picked a restaurant she liked for their strawberry desserts. They picked a table in a corner of the restaurant. They idly chatted and looked out the window watching the scenes of Christmas go by. Riko ordered some sandwiches while Yoshiko ordered a steak with stir fried vegetables. Yoshiko offered Riko a bite of the steak. She cut a piece and reached over to feed Riko. She slowly leaned in for a bite and just before she bit down, Yoshiko took back her arm and ate the steak herself. Riko glared at her and Yoshiko hurriedly cut another piece and properly fed Riko this time. Riko offered a bite of her sandwich but Yoshiko refused. Riko looked at her with a pout then looked at the condiments. She saw some hot sauce and put some on the sandwich. This appeared to have an effect as Yoshiko now wants a bite. Riko offered a bite and Yoshiko leaned in. Just before the sandwich got to her, Riko moved the sandwich away and pecked Yoshiko on the lips. Yoshiko froze in place at what just happened. Riko gave a look of triumph and took a bite of her sandwich. She instantly regretted it as it was the one she put hot sauce in and started coughing. She hurriedly drank her drink and the once frozen Yoshiko was laughing at her girlfriend. Their dessert later arrived; it was a strawberry and chocolate parfait. They both shared the dessert looking each other in eyes. Whether it naturally happened or not, they started a contest at who would break away first. Yoshiko knew what to do as she would throw winks in and if that didn't work, she would seductively lick her lip. Riko felt herself become hot and looked away before it could become anything greater.

When their lunch was finished, they took a stroll around the shopping district enjoying the sights and sound of the holidays. They just windowed shopped as just being together was the best gift they could’ve given each other. They took a break on a bench near a fountain. They watched as parents enjoyed times with their children, couples spending time together, animals walking around the street. Riko then saw a crepe stand and came up with an idea to bake some treats at home. Yoshiko liked the idea and they departed for a grocery store to buy the ingredients.

When they arrived at Riko’s house, they immediately started to prepare to bake cookies. Yoshiko took off their coats and scarves and placed them on the couch. Riko got out a recipe book and followed the directions. Riko put the ingredients in a mixing bowl while Yoshiko did the mixing. When the cookie dough was ready Yoshiko wanted to eat the cookie dough raw. Riko smacked her hand with a spoon to stop her. Riko took the bowl of cookie dough and placed them in the fridge to chill. Yoshiko wanted to order some take out and watch a movie while the dough gets chilled.

They snuggled together on the couch under a blanket as they watched a movie. It didn’t take long during the movie for them to start kissing each other. The warmth’s of their bodies putting them in the mood. Riko got on top and kissed Yoshiko, slowly moving down to her neck. Yoshiko hugged her tight as Riko began to feel her body. Riko started to move lower and lower, Yoshiko’s started to breathe harder as she craves for Riko. Riko unbuttoned Yoshiko’s shirt exposing her body then took off her blouse and looked down at a stimulated Yoshiko, who liked what she’s seeing. Riko leaned back down and locked lips with Yoshiko. Yoshiko felt like she was in heaven as Riko kissed her and grabbed her breast before moving her hands lower. Yoshiko grasped Riko’s bottom, getting some good squeezes in before she slowly moved up Riko’s back to her bra strap. The heat quickly subsided when the doorbell rang for their take out. Riko stopped and tidied herself up before she went and answered the door. Yoshiko cursed herself for mentioning take out as her stomach growled from hunger.

They ate dinner while fully paying attention to the movie now. Once dinner was finished, Yoshiko got the cookie dough out of the fridge while Riko got the cookie paper and pan ready. Riko saw Yoshiko try to eat the cookie dough again and took the bowl away from her. Once Riko got the cookie dough on the pan, they started to cut the dough into shapes and placed it in the over. The baking didn’t take long and the cookies were out and ready for icing. They ate the cookies without much incident outside of Yoshiko trying to put icing on Riko, Riko for dessert was what Yoshiko wanted.

Riko thought of something and told Yoshiko to follow her. She led them to her room to which Yoshiko immediately thought of something a little inappropriate. Riko sat down at her piano and patted at a spot next to her. Yoshiko calmed down a bit and took a seat next to her.

“It’s a piece I’ve been working on. Its not done yet, but one day I want this piece to be our song. A song just for you and me.”

Riko began playing and Yoshiko was immediately bewitched by the music piece. She felt happy, loved, peaceful, Riko’s song made Yoshiko feel so special. She leaned on Riko’s shoulder as she continued playing the song. The song ended, but the playing didn’t end when Riko guided her to her bed for there was some unfinished business they needed to settle.

Christmas break was almost over and Yoshiko was packing some of her stuff to return to the school. Her mom assisted in whatever Yoshiko needed. Before they left the house to go to the train station, Yoshiko’s mom needed to talk to her.

“Yoshiko, Riko must be really special to you huh?”

“She is, I… want to be with her.”

“I’m happy you were able to find someone who you hold very dear. There is something that I must say though.”

“Yes mom?”

“Listen closely; you remember when we were active on doing some research into dark magic.”

“Yeah, we thought we were making progress.”

“Exactly, we were more willing to use dark magic for research than most people. It ended up corrupting us. You had to stop me and I had to stop you when it happened to us. We did make progress and even had some ideas on what to do to control it.”

“But in the end it didn’t work. It only brought us back to the same point as before.”

“Correct, I know you love Riko and I love Rika. Rika openly supported my pursuits, but I knew that I can be endangering her with what I’m doing. I’m not discouraging you but, remember to be careful if you ever use dark magic.”

“I will…. I will mom.”

“That’s my girl, now let us go meet up with them and head to the station.”

The Tsushima’s left to pick up the Sakurauchi’s then headed for the train station. Yoshiko needed to use the bathroom before so she told Riko to board and get a booth for them. While in the bathroom Yoshiko felt something weird. A heavy feeling like the air got a little heavy all of a sudden. She looked around the bathroom trying to discern what it was. When she exited, she looked around again. She couldn’t find anything, weird, she thought. The ring of a bell snapped her back and she ran back to the train dismissing whatever that feeling was. After saying her farewells to her mom and Riko’s mom, Yoshiko boarded the train and found where Riko was and sat beside her. They looked out the window and waved to their mom’s as they waved back. Soon the second half of the school year was about to begin and both Riko and Yoshiko can’t wait to be reunited with their friends and the crazy things they will do with them.


	22. Contact

The break is almost over and students are returning back on campus. Some students were running around getting their stuff moved in, others were talking about their breaks, some were already training for classes and events, while others went to Takama to shop. Overall, the scene at Uranohoshi was a busy, bustling one. Riko arrived at the front gates with her and Yoshiko’s belongings. Yoshiko wanted to go to Takama to buy some school supplies she forgot and told Riko to take their things to their room. Riko wanted to go with her, but Yoshiko said it was a quick trip so no need. A little bit after walking in, she sees Mari walking up to her as happy as she could be. Mari wondered where Yoshiko went and Riko told her she went to buy some things. Mari seeing the bags Riko was holding decided to help her carry them. On their way to the Guilty Kiss houses, they talked about their breaks and Mari couldn’t help but giggle hearing about the times Riko and Yoshiko were together during the break.

Yoshiko left the supply store with the things she needed for school. She hurriedly ran to the docks as she can’t wait to meet up with Aqours after their break. When she turned the corner, she ended up bumping into a person with long silver hair.

“I’m so sorry; I was in a hurry and didn’t pay attention to where I was going.”

“It’s no problem, school can do that to people.” The silver haired women helped Yoshiko up.

“Thank you… could you let go of my hand… I’m okay now.”

“Oh sorry, its just…. Nevermind, you have somewhere you needed to be didn’t you?”

“Yep, well thanks and sorry for bumping into you.” Yoshiko ran off towards the docks.

“I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

Yoshiko returned to her room, with Aqours already all there. They greeted her and Yoshiko responded before going into her bedroom to put down her stuff. When she got back to the living room Mari jumped at her from the side and hugged her, she really missed her favorite fallen angel and the shenanigans they did together. Yoshiko tried to pull away, but Mari’s grip was tight. The girls giggled and let the two be, while they continued to share their activities during the break.

“Mari, I think you should let go of Yoshiko-san now.”

“Why? She’s so cute when she’s like this.”

“You’d probably suffocate her if you continue anymore.”

“Its only fair to give her a hug after I gave everyone a hug already.”

“Maybe not like that with Riko here.”

“Oh, you’re right. Here you go.” Mari pushed Yoshiko into Riko. “There, you two are good now.”  Yoshiko was now in Riko’s arms and a bit perplexed by Mari handing her over like she was Riko’s property or something.

“So, what should we do today?”

“Well, I’ll be off training with the Quidditch team at another school for a friendly so, I won’t be here for 2 days starting tomorrow.”

“Good luck, sorry I decided not to join.”

“No problem. Its your choice, I didn’t want to force you onto the team.”

“Dia~ if you get lonely you can always come to my room.”

“I’m fine, it’s a bit of work talking to our Housemistress just to sleep in a different house anyways.”

School began again and the same routine started up. _‘Kill…’_ Something came up in Yoshiko’s head when she was brushing her teeth. She looked around then at herself in the mirror. When whatever it was didn’t come back, Yoshiko continued freshening herself up. Leaving the bathroom, she could smell breakfast being made and followed it into the kitchen. Riko welcomed her with a smile put a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast. Yoshiko went over and gave Riko a quick kiss on the check before she sat down and ate. Riko later joined her when she finished making her serving of French toast. When breakfast was done, they got dresses and were off for class. Umi decided that for Defence class today, they would do exercises, so she took them all to the courtyard. Some of the students were clearly not ready as they just came off of break. Umi knew this and used this class session as an example for them to always be in shape even if they had time off.

As a result of the exercise, Yoshiko decided it was time for a nap in the middle of Magic Structure class. Riko did what she could to get Yoshiko awake, but it didn’t work and the teacher gave Yoshiko more homework to do. At lunch, Riko was scolding Yoshiko while Ruby and Hanamaru watched. The two wished Yoshiko would learn her lesson, but they believed that Yoshiko would get in trouble on purpose just so Riko can scold her. Nothing too crazy happened in Herbology to Riko’s satisfaction, outside of Hanayo’s class long lecture about rice.

“Rice is a grain and yet Koizumi-sensei talked about it like it’s the key to healing anything.”

“Well it can technically heal you, like in porridge.”

“Yeah, I made it all the time for Chika-chan when she gets sick.”

“I guess you can consider it an herb if you convince yourself hard enough.”

“Hmmm I guess Zuramaru could use rice as a weapon considering what they’re used for in spiritual stuff.”

“Oh yeaaaahhh.” They all said thinking about Hanamaru throwing rice at enemies.

At Cyaron’s house, they met Hanamaru and Ruby talking to other students near the flowerbed to the left of the main door. After Hanamaru and Ruby finished their conversation they headed over to their group and went inside. They wondered what Kanan and the quidditch team was doing and how they hadn’t seen Mari and Dia yet. Eventually, Yoshiko needed to use the bathroom and asked to be excused real quick.

_‘….me’_

“Hm?” There it was again. What was that?

 _‘Kill….join’_ Yoshiko got another headache. She was flinching in pain, no clue on what was going on. Just, something or someone was talking to her. It just stopped soon after, leaving Yoshiko just as confused as this morning. When she left the bathroom, the others were eating some snacks. Riko offered her some when Yoshiko sat beside her, but she turned it down, saying she wasn’t hungry. Two days passed and the quidditch team returned from winning their friendly. Kanan was met with congratulations from the rest of Aqours. They decided to go to Takama and eat at a restaurant for a celebration.

“It was just a friendly, no need for this.”

“You were away for two days Kanan, leaving Dia and me alone.”

“I said I was fine, two days isn’t that long anyways.”

“How was the game?” Yo asked.

“It was close, the other team definitely improved from last year. Makes me want to practice with the team more.”

“Well don’t spend too much time away from us.”

“I won’t, I’m the only one who can keep these two in check if they go off the rails.” Dia scoffed at that remark, knowing that Kanan can go overboard herself. As they enjoyed their meals the noise in the restaurant picked up as more of the team showed up with their entourage to celebrate also.

Something came up in Yoshiko’s mind as she excused herself from the restaurant leaving some of the members to worry. ‘ _Bleed_ ’ Yoshiko felt something, but she didn’t know what it is. She decided to take a little walk to clear her mind. The evening air was cold, the street was lit up from the lanterns, and some stores began to close up. Yoshiko walked down the street passing by the accessory store she and Riko went to during the festival. She then took a turn through an alley and was almost on the road that leads to Yoko.

“Ooomph”

“Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Yoshiko looked up at the person that she bumped into and saw a familiar person with silver hair. “Hey aren’t you…”

“It’s nice seeing you again. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Oh, yeah.. you dropped something.” Yoshiko went to pick up a book the stranger dropped and she noticed something about it. “Dark Arts” was written in the corner of the cover.

“I see you are interested in my book.”

“Ummm yeah, I couldn’t help but notice the…..”

“Dark Arts?”

“Yeah, the scribble on the corner.”

“Are you interested?”

“In a way.”

“Oh what a coincidence, are you perchance researching about its uses?”

“Yes, in a way where it doesn’t harm people.”

“That’s very interesting indeed. I’m a bit of a researcher myself. This topic fascinates me and I want to learn as much as I can.”

“…….”

“Could I ask you if you would be willing to work with me on this subject?”

“…. I don’t know… you seem nice and all, but I think it would be best if I did it on my own.”

“Shame….. what if I told you that I have a hypothesis on how to avoid the corruption from using dark magic?”

“Everyone has one, its nothing new.”

“I have some evidence.”

“…you what?”

“I have evidence, but since you are unsure, how about you meet me here again, say tomorrow? I can show you a little bit of what I have and you can decide for yourself.” Yoshiko thought about this proposal. She remembered what her mom and the headmistress told her from before. She also remembered how she used some dark magic in secret to progress her research and it bared no fruit. Is it possible this person has something that others don’t? She seems confident enough. Yoshiko wrestled with her decision until she decided to bite the bullet and agreed. What harm could seeing a little bit of evidence bring? If it was nothing noteworthy then all she could do was refuse.

“Alright, I’ll see what you have tomorrow. It better be worth it.”

“Its worth it, trust me, you’ll know when you see it. By the way, my name is Manah. Could I get yours?”

“Tsushima Yoshiko.”

“Well Tsushima-san, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you later.” Yoshiko waved goodbye at Manah and returned back to the restaurant. The rest of Aqours was just leaving and they saw Yoshiko walking up the street. They asked her if she was okay and Yoshiko told them she just needed some fresh air and went for a walk. Riko was a bit worried, but decided not to pry into the matter, letting Yoshiko have some space.

The next afternoon arrived and Yoshiko made her way to Takama after class. When she arrived at the spot, there was Manah waiting for her. Manah greeted Yoshiko and asked how her day was. Yoshiko quickly gave her answer and went straight to business. Manah was not in a hurry, so she requested that they walk away from town.

“Why are we leaving Takama and walking on some backroad in the forest?”

“I’d rather not talk about this in the open. Plus, less people, less problems.”

“True I guess.”

“Have you been looking into dark magic long?”

“My mom was and I picked it up when I was 9.”

“Oh, its in the family, how nice.”

“What about you?”

“Well, I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember. I even made some proposals to the magic council, but they all rejected them. It was frustrating, having all my work rejected one after another.”

“What you do then?”

“I kept going back to them; it got to the point where they don’t even want to talk to me about it anymore, so I’ve been left to my own devices to research.”

“Must be tough, my mom and I aren’t rejected by the council so at least mom gets some support.”

“I think it was for the better, I could discover things on my own without the council getting involved. Its how I managed to get this far.” They stopped walking and Manah pointed to a direction. Yoshiko didn’t know what was going on until Manah fired off a dark fireball. She shot one after another and Yoshiko started feeling nervous knowing that this could be bad if the corruption took over. Those fears never came to fruition as Manah looked at her still smiling.

“How did you…. Are you still..”

“Sane?”

“Yeah.”

“Yep, its what I wanted to show you.” Yoshiko studied her for a bit. Her eyes were still the same, theres no dark energy spilling out, she was still reasonable, and she wasn’t in pain.

“Okay, I’ll bite, how are you doing this?”

“I would tell you but, you’re still an outsider to me. I won’t divulge my information to someone who could steal it.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Then how about you agree to let me teach you as an apprentice. That’s the only way I’ll tell you.”

“ I guess I can understand where you’re coming from. I accept, so now can you tell me?”

“Hahahaha, you really like to rush things huh? Come here real quick.”

“Okay, I’m here.”

“I want you to fire off a dark magic spell in that direction like I did.”

“What?!”

“Trust me, I need to see if my hypothesis holds true for other people.”

“Fine.” Yoshiko took deep breathes. She readied herself and began to cast her spell. She felt a surge of lightning build up in her then to her wand. Soon, dark energy was charged and the lightning began to turn black. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to Manah.

“Trust me, cast a big a spell as you can.” Yoshiko could only agree, now putting more into her spell. Once she was ready, she shot a huge cannon of black lightning. Yoshiko could feel the dark energy build up in her as the spell continued.  She wanted to stop, knowing anymore and she could lose herself. She was about to stop then she felt the energy fade away. It soon disappeared and Yoshiko was left wondering how even though she was still using a spell.

“That’s good enough.” Yoshiko stopped and let out a huge sigh.

“How?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow. I want to finalize my findings before I tell you what I know.”

“Ugh fine, but I better get the explanation tomorrow.” Yoshiko and Manah walked back to Takama. Manah suggested that they see each other more frequently should Yoshiko fully commit to this and let Yoshiko think about it. When Yoshiko got back to her room, Riko was there cooking dinner. When she heard Yoshiko come in, she stopped and questioned Yoshiko about where she went.

“Where have you been? We tried calling you on your CO.”

“Oh, sorry I didn’t notice.”

“Seriously Yocchan, you’re worrying me here.”

“I’m fine, I just met someone interesting and we ended up talking a bit.”

“You… met…someone?”

“Not like that, I promise. She just needed help with something, and I decided to help her out that’s all”

“And that’s why you left as soon as class ended?”

“I was going to get something that was on sale then I ran into her.”

“Does this person have a name?”

“Manah, but I promise you Riri, its nothing. I’m just helping someone out that’s all. Trust me…. Please?” Yoshiko went up to Riko and hugged her giving her a pleading look. Riko looked at Yoshiko long and hard before giving in.

“Fine, I believe you. You haven’t done anything for me to question you, but you’ll have to make it up to me sometime okay?” Riko hugged back and kissed Yoshiko. Riko finished making dinner and the two ate. Riko reminded Yoshiko about all the homework they had to do to which Yoshiko responded with a dejected look. Riko laughed and told Yoshiko that they would do it together, so she didn’t have to worry.


	23. Change

Yoshiko began working with Manah. They went to a secluded area in a forest and Manah would tell Yoshiko to use dark magic while she observed for anything unusual. Manah would place her hand on Yoshiko’s shoulder from time to time, which Yoshiko took as her making a move on her.

“Hey, just to let you know, I already have someone in my life.”

“Oh no, I’m far too busy for a relationship. I might view them more of a hindrance then anything.”

“Okay, just wanted to let you know, my looks can charm even the toughest of people.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s call it a day. Is there anything you want to eat? My treat.”

“No thanks, I’ll eat with my friends.” They both parted and Yoshiko took the boat back to campus. Yoshiko couldn’t help but wonder how she’s doing fine using dark magic. Is it Manah’s presence that keeping her from being corrupted? How does a person’s presence alone do that? What about the shoulder touching. Is there something that Manah could do that stops the corruption? As she pondered, she stared into the ocean looking at the fishes swimming beneath. _‘Pitiful, Die.’_ She just stared and stared until she noticed the helmsman call for her. When she got back, the other members wondered what she’s been doing by herself. Yoshiko would just tell them that she’s doing some research for school. She sat down and started to eat with her friends avoiding topics that involved her activities.

The next day Yoshiko went to meet Manah; Manah went to Yoko and sat at the cliff, overlooking the ocean with a sight to the island with the school. Manah told her that she enjoys views like this as it clears her mind, a break from her work. Once, Manah had enough she and Yoshiko went back to work.

“So, are you going to tell me this hypothesis of yours?”

“I guess I could now. Have a seat.” They both sat down on some flat rocks and Manah gave a quick look over to Yoshiko.

“What? You gonna talk or not?”

“Sorry. What are we as humans? We are born into this world and we live, learn, grow. How do we accomplish such things? By building relationships and constantly experiencing things in order for us to improve. Deep down what drives as a person is our hearts, our souls. They hold that connection, those feelings to and for those that we think are important. Whether they are people or ideals. The corruption that comes from black magic, I believe eats away at those things.”

“It eats away at our hearts?”

“Hearts and souls. Those feelings can drive people to do crazy things. The corruption feeds on those strong emotions. I believe that’s what happens to most researchers for dark magic. Their feelings, their desire to prove people that dark magic can be good consumed them, making the corruption get hold of them. There was no, purity in their pursuits you could say.”

“Okay, so how are you fine then?”

“I let it go.”

“You let it go?”

“I let go of those feelings, the connections I had. I let it all go for dark magic. It doesn’t have anything in me to consume. My heart, my soul, is clear from things as attachment.”

“That’s what you hypothesize?”

“Correct, its only a hypothesis still, so there could be changes. But I stand here today, perfectly fine from that. I don’t know how it will be for others.”

“Is it worth it? Letting all you have go?”

“That’s not something I can answer, but it’s the only thing that can be done to achieve what I have.” Manah sighed, and decided to end it there. She told Yoshiko to come back again and maybe she could find her own answer or build upon the current hypothesis Manah proposed. Again, Yoshiko was left to ponder on what Manah has told her. Let everything go? _‘free’_ Yoshiko can’t fathom the thought of letting her friends go. She couldn’t let Riko of all people go, she means too much to Yoshiko. _‘let it go’_ There has to be something else that could be tried to keep the corruption from taking over. These questions hung over Yoshiko’s head as she headed back to school. She would look over at her friend’s laughs and smiles thinking. The thought of letting them go only angered her. How can she just cut ties with them like that? What about everything her mom has done? Give all that up? It carried onto the night, Yoshiko laid in bed looking up into the ceiling. She would turn over and look at Riko. Her sleeping face was so beautiful, her soft breathes when she slept. To let go of this feeling, let go of Riko, theres no way. Her smile, her voice, her laughs, her food, her kindness, her eyes, her hair, her…everything. Give her up? _‘kill’_

“I need more power.”

“Like I said, let go of your attachments. You’ll feel much better when you do~” Manah lowered her voice to a whisper in Yoshiko’s ear.

“Shut up! I can do this my way.”

“Just trust me on this.” Manah put both hands on Yoshiko’s shoulders.

“And I’m telling you I got this!”

“Okay, just know that I’m living proof of the reality you reject. No one can get hurt if you just forget about them.”

Day after day, Yoshiko would spend some time with Manah, thinking about her hypothesis and how can she disprove it. Giving up everything she had was not an option, but the more she sees Manah, the more she can’t help but think if it’s the only way. When Manah left the forest, Yoshiko told her to just go ahead she wanted to stay behind for a bit. Manah complied and just left. She sat on the ground staring at nothing; frustration grew as she couldn’t come up with a different answer to the problem. Her mind soon became blank, just staring as animal came by. A squirrel came up to her and it looked at her. Then it climbed onto her up to the shoulder, then back down to her hand. Yoshiko’s eyes moved to the squirrel, nothing but a blank look. Yoshiko soon left the forest, behind her, the animal that were there disappeared. Behind her, behind the tree was the squirrel being eaten by darkness and the ground around it wilting away.

Yoshiko’s behavior has changed and Aqours noticed it bit by bit. At first they thought Yoshiko was having a bad day and Riko tried what she could to keep Yoshiko in a good mood. She would skip classes, she wouldn’t leave her room at times, and she wouldn’t hangout with them. Things got worse as during a sparring session, Yoshiko ruthlessly took out her opponent. She stood over the student who couldn’t fight back and was about to cast another spell. Umi had to stop her and warned her not to let things get out of hand. The second time it happened, Umi had enough and had Yoshiko suspended from class. Both students Yoshiko faught had to spend time in the healers room for injuries.

“Hey Yoshiko-chan, you aren’t eating. Is something wrong? zura”

“I’m not hungry.”

“But Riko-chan made it, you love her food.”

“It doesn’t…. I’m not hungry.” Worried looks appeared on the faces of the girls.

“Yocchan, do you need some rest or something?”

“Yeah, that…. sounds good.” Yoshiko went to her room. Aqours looked over at Riko and could see a pained expression on her face as she worries about her girlfriend. Yoshiko sat on her bed, frustration, anger, where are these feelings coming from? She doesn’t know and her headaches are occurring more frequently. They clouded her mind from thinking straight. “I know that there has to be a way, just need time, but…” Yoshiko laid down and fell asleep before she could finish her thought. _’Die’_

Yoshiko attended class, but didn’t respond to anything, too deep in thought to do much. She would brush off Riko and Riko was getting angry at being ignored. It didn’t seem to matter as Yoshiko paid less attention to Riko. Concerns began to creep into Riko’s mind about their relationship as Yoshiko’s behavior got worse. During the day, she just stayed in the dorm avoiding contact. Yoshiko would leave in the afternoon and come back late in the evening.

“Where do you keep going for you to return late?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“It is my business, I’m your girlfriend.”

“I have things I want to do on my own.”

“On your own? After all the things we did together, you all of a sudden want to be on your own?”

“Yeah.”

“Why now?”

“I don’t know, I’m tired I guess.”

“Tired of what?”

“…..” Yoshiko just looked at Riko, not trying to answer that question. Riko feared what Yoshiko was about to say. In her heart, she just wants Yoshiko back to normal. It was tough as the silence gave her the idea of what Yoshiko’s answer would be. It was tough, when her eyes didn’t have the same glimmer it once had.

The stress began to take its toll on Riko. She slept less, her music stopped, her academics slipped a bit, and her smile gone. Aqours worries only grew. Riko says that Yoshiko and her are having some problems, but thye can work them out. They didn’t want to press any further seeing how Riko was looking and hoped that whatever is going on is fixed soon.

Another day and the same thing. Riko tried a few times to get Yoshiko to talk but Yoshiko wouldn’t even look her way. Her heart hurts and she was beginning to grow frustrated. It was evening and Riko made dinner for them. She called Yoshiko to come out several times. When Yoshiko did come out, she just sat at the table and didn’t eat.

“Yocchan, tell me whats been bothering you?”

“……”

“Yocchan, please talk to me.”

“….Its…nothing.” She was getting tired of this conversation. The dark feelings started to rise up again.

“It’s not nothing, you’ve been changing ever since you met this Manah person.”

“…..”

“Is she changing you? If she is than I don’t want you to see her.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

“You barely talk to us anymore and you’ve been ignoring me. It’s hurting me.”

“…..”

“YOSHIKO!” Yoshiko snapped, she knocked the food off the table and stood up. She looked at Riko for a second with a threatening glare. She walked by Riko bumping her out of the way. Riko was done and demanded an answer from Yoshiko. Riko blocked Yoshiko’s path.

“See? This is not the girl I love. You’re different.”

“I’m me.”

“No you are not. You don’t smile or laugh anymore. We don’t talk much and if we did, you would just ignore me like I’m some nuisance.”

“There are other matters for me to focus on.”

“Are they more important than me?”

“At this point….probably.” Yoshiko mumbled the last part. Riko was able to hear it and her emotions began to run wild inside her. She held back her tears and looked Yoshiko in the face, trying to get something, anything of the old Yoshiko back.  

“Yoshiko, something is going on here. I can see you were thinking hard about something.”

“….”

“There is something bothering you. You wouldn’t be like this if there wasn’t something.”

“…..Stop”

“We’re all worried about you. I’m worried about you.” The frustration in Yoshiko continues to build.

“..Stop.”

“Please Yoshiko, tell me. You havent’t been yourself lately.”

“Stop!”

“Stop what? I’m trying to help you.”

“Help?”

“Yes, help.”

“IT WOULD HELP IF YOU WEREN’T SO USELESS!” There it was, all the anger and frustration just came out of her mouth. Yoshiko was breathing hard, as if she was released from whatever stress she was dealing with. But then came the realization. She just realized what she just said, she started to sweat, fear clutched her heart. When she looked at Riko, it was like a knife was stabbed into her chest. The pained, broken look of her face. Riko was trembling and the tears she tried to hold back were pouring out of her eyes. Yoshiko knew she messed up, her mouth moved but no words could come out. She stood there frozen, until she was finally able to muster up something.

“Riri…no.. I.. didn’t mean that… Riri..” *smack*

“Is-is that what I am to you? W-was everything a lie?” Riko was heartbroken, angry, she didn’t want to believe what Yoshiko just said, but she heard it.

“No..Riri.. Riko..I..” Before Yoshiko could say anything else, Riko went to her room, a trail of tears left behind her. Yoshiko can only stand there; she looked at where Riko was just standing, dejected. Yoshiko walked to Riko’s room and could hear crying. It hurts so much, she wanted to go in and apologize, but she couldn’t. The grief was eating her up, so all she could do was sit with her back against the door. Every second, every sob, every cry, Yoshiko heard as they were engraved into her mind. Riko cried herself to sleep that night, not knowing that Yoshiko was on the other side of her door crying with her. Yoshiko’s hands were clenched, biting her lip, she wants to start this day over, she wants to apologize, she wants to hold Riko, she wants to be with Riko to make up for her stupidity. _’Want…..let go….kill’_ the headache started up again. She walked out to the dining and looked at the mess she made before she cleaned it up. After that, Yoshiko decided to go back to her room, the damage done, with nothing else she could do at this moment.

The next morning Riko woke up a shell of herself. Her pillow was wet from her tears, her eyes red from crying, and her hair messy. She slowly walked out of her room and looked at Yoshiko’s door. Then she went to the bathroom to clean herself up. She got to the kitchen and noticed the mess from last night was cleaned up, but didn’t think too much about it. Chika, Yo, Hanamaru, and Ruby saw the state that Riko was in, and hurriedly rushed to her to check on her. Riko said that she was fine, and walked to class with the others behind her worried. The teachers saw Riko and told her to leave for the Healer’s office if she ever needed it. The students wanted to ask her if they could help her in any way, but the looks from her friends told them that they got it covered.

“Hiiii everyone how… Oh my god Riko, whats wrong?”

“Hey, I heard mumblings about Riko, but I wasn’t sure if they were true.”

“Riko-san, did anything happen to you?” The 2nd years arrived to see a fragile Riko. She didn’t respond to anything her friends said.

“Okay Riko-chan, we won’t leave until you tell us what’s wrong.”

“Does it have something to with Yoshiko-chan? Zura.” At the mention of her name, Riko’s eyes widened, her mind went back to what happened last night, and she started to cry. Her hands covered her face as she wept, not knowing what to say.

“We’re here for you Riko-chan, we’re here for you. Just let it all out and we can continue talking.” Yo hugged her and was later joined in by everyone else.

“Y-Y-Yocchan, I-I..”

“Easy Riko, just gather yourself.”

“S-she changed and we argued then…then-she called.. she called me useless. I-I slapped her.”

“Woah woah, all this happened last night?”

“Y-yes, I don’t know what to do.”

“Hmm, its true that Yoshiko-san has been acting strange, on edge lately.”

“We did all we could, but she didn’t talk to us.”

“Did you two talk about something that caused the fight?” Riko calmed down a little and explained everything that happened.

“I brushed it off at first because Yoshiko never done anything for me to question her. Then she began to act strangely. I asked her about it and she told me she was helping someone named Manah.”

“Manah? Who is that?”

“Some woman that Yoshiko said she was helping for a bit. We all saw her behavior become a bit more agitated and aggressive, so I figured I should step in and stop this from becoming a big problem. I tried to get her to talk a couple times, but she would brush me off like I wasn’t there. It was like I became a nuisance to her. Then at dinner last night, we ended up fighting and she called me useless and I slapped her. It hurts so much.”

“I think Yoshiko-chan deserved that slap, ignoring us..okay, but calling you useless like that was overboard. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’m guessing you two haven’t talked since last night.”

“We haven’t.”

“Okay, Riko we’ll all go to your room and all have a chat with Yoshiko. We need to find out what is wrong one way or another.” Kanan suggested.

“I-I think this Manah person is someone we need to find out from her.”

“Ruby is right Riko-san, I believe whoever this Manah person is, she’s the root cause of whats happened to Yoshiko-san.”

“But does she even want to see me? What if she’s still the same from last night?”

“Riko-chan, you two love each other, if y’all don’t talk about this, then its only going to get worse.”

“Like Chika-chan said, you both need to talk, and we’ll be there to support you two if needed.”

“Thank you all, I couldn’t have asked for better friends.” Riko gave them smile that made them feel relieved. One person down, one more to go. They all went to Riko and Yoshiko’s room. Riko was nervous and told them to wait outside the door. She walked into the room and to the back room. She knocked on Yoshiko’s door. There was no response. Riko knocked again and called Yoshiko’s name this time. There was no response again. Riko did this a third time and when she got no response she decided to open the door herself. The door was locked; she twisted the knob a few times, and then decided to open it up with magic. She aimed her wand at the doorknob and sent an energy bolt unlocking the lock and opening the door. Riko walked in the room and to her shock Yoshiko wasn’t there. She scrambled around looking for Yoshiko, but couldn’t find her anywhere in their room. She rushed out and opened the door to the hallway;

“Yoshiko isn’t here!”

“What?!”

“She isn’t here, I knocked and she didn’t respond, so I opened it to find that she wasn’t in her room.”

“Damn, we should look around the school, and ask anybody if they have seen her.” Everyone knodded to Kanan’s suggestion and searched the school. They asked all the students they could about Yoshiko’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, nobody has seen a trace of her. They regrouped and reported what they found to each other or lack of what they found. As they were talking Vice-Headmistress Toudou approached them and told them to report to the Headmistress’ office. Aqours was confused at the sudden request, but headed there with haste.

“I hear someone in your group is missing.”

“Yes maam, we’re currently looking for her.”

“Would it be better if I told you to stop your search?”

“What?!” They were all shocked that the Headmistress would suggest such a thing knowing how close the nine of them are.

“What do you mean?” Riko asked, there was a bit of anger in her voice.

“I’m not saying with any ill intent. Here’s the reasoning. I’m sure you’ve noticed Tsushima-san’s aggressive behavior as of late. She almost injured two students in sparring, she’s been skipping classes, she doesn’t respond to anything the teachers tell her.”

“Of course, that’s why we’ve been trying to figure it out, zura.”

“Yes, well I’m afraid of what you’ll find if you do find her.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked fearfully.

“We all know that she researches Dark Magic correct?”

“Correct.”

“Did you all notice her behavior during your fight with Alise and Jabberwock?”

“We did maam.”

“I’m afraid that it’s a high possibility that she’s now corrupted. The evidence is there from that fight all the way to now.” Riko could only stare in disbelief. Chika and Yo came next to her and held her hands.

“So what you are saying” Kira cut Dia off before she could finish.

“What I’m saying is that, if you do ever find Tsushima-san, wherever she is, she could be corrupted. Best case scenario, she is back to normal and we’ll keep an eye on her for any signs here at school. Worst case scenario..” There was a pause, Kira saw the fear that started to show on all their faces, but it was the truth of the situation that is before them.

“Worst case scenario is that she is now fully corrupt and evil, which means if you find her…. you’ll have to kill her…Will you all be able to kill her if the situation presents itself?”

This statement was the last thing they wanted to hear. To have to kill a friend is the toughest thing anyone could do, let alone teenagers. Riko began to sweat and her hands began to shake. Riko could’ve never imagined anything in her life that would ever lead to this situation. She could’ve never imagined the possibility of killing her girlfriend, her love, her Yoshiko.


	24. The Toughest Goodbyes

Yoshiko woke up very early the morning after their fight. Actually, its better to say that she barely slept. What she did to Riko kept replaying in her mind over and over again; keeping her from falling asleep. She needed to get away from all this, needed to regroup. She put on whatever clothes she saw first and put some things into her bag. Before she left, she looked at Riko’s room one more time, hoping that the strength to go and apologize for what she’s done would come. It never did.

Yoshiko took the boat to Takama and walked to Yoko. It was quiet, there was no one awake yet except a few people who like early exercise. She went pass the small temple in Yoko and walked over to the Cliffside. The sun was starting to rise and Yoshiko looked into the ocean reflecting an orange hue. A familiar presence was felt, but Yoshiko didn’t turn around and continued to look at the ocean.

“It’s early for you to be here isn’t it?”

“Just shut up and leave.”

“I’m hurt. What have I done to deserve that statement?”

“Hurt? You gave up attachments, you don’t know what hurt is.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t interpret what a person is supposed to feel in situations.”

“…….”

“Tell me, have you made any progress?”

“I don’t want this anymore.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s stop this, I…I don’t think its worth it anymore.”

“Hoh? What brought this on? You were so motivated about this.”

“…I just want to stop.”

“Well, I can’t have you quit on me now after everything we’ve done.”

“The hell you mean I can’t. It was my choice to start this and now it’s my choice to end it.” Yoshiko turned to Manah with an angry look trying to make her understand her intent. Manah didn’t budge, she kept talking in her calm tone.

“Ah, I think I can make that decision for you. Whose fault was it that they ended up hurting their precious girlfriend?”

“I didn…… wait, how did you know about that?” Manah didn’t answer her. She looked Yoshiko in the eyes and just smirked. Yoshiko was now on the defensive and drew out her wand. “What was all this about?”

“Now that is a good question. The answer is simple, I want you. I saw something in you and I need to have it by my side. To do that, I needed you to, how I say, be a bit more aggressive in your behavior.”

“Well, I’m not interested in anything you want. So get the hell away from me or I’ll make you.”

“Go ahead, try. We both know you won’t beat me since I was the one teaching you.” With that Yoshiko used black ice spikes. Manah deflected them with some flicks of energy from her wand. Yoshiko then went for “Thor’s Hammer”. She aimed at Manah, looking her in the eyes with intent to possibly kill her, she blinked, then Manah was gone. Wait, what? Gone? How did?

“How did I do that?” Manah was now beside Yoshiko. Yoshiko turned around as fast as she could, but she was too late. Manah blasted her in the side with dark energy and Yoshiko passed out.

When Yoshiko woke up and all she saw were rocks. There was some water dripping from the ceiling and some puddles here and there. She slowly looked around and found herself in a cave. When she tried to move, she found that she was hung up by chains of dark energy. She struggled to break free, doing everything she can to escape from her situation.

“Awake now are we?” Yoshiko looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Manah along with some hooded figures.

“Where am I?”

“A damp cave.”

“Of course, what is it you want from me? What do you need me for?”

“I told you a while ago didn’t I?”

“Specifics dammit.”

“Okay, I want you to join my cause to change this world.”

“Change?”

“You see, no matter how much progress we make, people will still reject dark magic, fear it. As long as the council doesn’t see you as a threat they won’t bother with you. Example being you and your mom. They figure that you both had things under control and won’t cause any incidents involving dark magic. But for people like me, oh they’ll make it so that you are rejected by everyone. What I told you when we first met was true. I tried to get them to see my side of things, but they were too stubborn. What I didn’t tell you was that I was banned from getting any aid. I couldn’t get supplies, funding, hell I was forced to leave my home. I was basically a fugitive. After a while of being a fugitive, I decided to break laws to obtain what I needed. Manipulate, kill, steal, and recruit people to my cause. It all provided me with the perfect conditions to get my research done.”

“Was your hypothesis all a lie then?”

“Partially, its true about the letting go part. What I meant was that you should let yourself go to the corruption. Let it consume you, let it become you.”

“That’s the same as being corrupted.”

“But its not, I maintain my sanity. I have control over it. That’s why I wanted you. I saw the potential to be special in you. The problem was you had feelings for your friends and this girl and your fellow students, it was a bit much. So, I just had to give you a little push.”

“A little… you mean those times you touched my shoulder?”

“Yes, I said it was to keep that corruption from spreading, but in actuality I was feeding it into you, letting it cloud your mind and judgment, hence your change in behavior.”

“You bitch! When I get free, I’ll..”

“You’ll what? Kill me? My my, are you sure you have control?” Manah walked over to Yoshiko and examined her. She signaled for the others to leave and they did. She cupped Yoshiko under her chin and made Yoshiko look at her making sure she was paying attention. “Now, you can join my cause or I’ll have to do this the hard way.”

“Try all you want, I won’t break.”

“Have it your way. Shame really, you are such a pretty girl.” Manah let go of Yoshiko’s chin. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and placed her hand on Yoshiko’s head. After a moment, Manah opened her eyes, looked at Yoshiko, and smirked.

“Wha…AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Yoshiko screamed from pain. Just what was happening? All Manah did was touch her head and yet she felt pain all over her body. It felt like she was getting stabbed, burned, and shot, yet none of that was actually happening to her. The pain stopped and Yoshiko heaved for air, her thoughts not understanding what just happened.

“The brain is a powerful thing. How amazing it is to make a person perform better than they are actually capable of. How it makes you experience so much just based on what it processes. You know what they say, if your brain believes it, you feel it.”

“Hah….hah…hah, ar-are you saying….that you’re doing all this through the mind?”

 “Yes, I’m simply feeding your brain false information to interpret. Your brain thinks you’ve been stabbed, shot, burned, impaled, hit, kicked, etc. Whether it’s actually happening or not doesn’t matter, if the signal is strong enough, the brain overwrites the receptors and you end up feeling whatever it was your brain processed. Easy for manipulation and such.”

“I….I won’t join you. You can try all you want.”

“You should, otherwise you will die from this.”

“I thought you said that you wanted me.”

“Yeah, but no point in keeping you alive if you’re going to be persistent about not joining me. I’ll keep the torture going until your corruption wins over or you die. Are you ready for more?” Manah approached Yoshiko again and placed her hand on her head this time.

“….no…no NONONONO!!!!AHHHHHH!”

“So, how does it feel to see your friends die in front of you, while you watch helplessly? And yes false memories count also in this torture. I’ll break you physically and mentally.” The torture continued, in Yoshiko’s mind so many tragic painful images are running through her mind. She saw herself get killed over and over again, each one a different way. She sees her friends die in front of her, her school burned down as everyone in the school perished, her mom getting murdered. All of these images bringing more and more pain and torment to her.

**At the school:**

Aqours was looking everywhere on campus, making sure they check every nook and cranny. There has to be something that hinted at where Yoshiko could have gone. Riko was adamant about finding her at all cost. She wanted Yoshiko back to her, no matter if she was corrupted or not. Riko was back in their room. She scanned the entire living room and kitchen before she moved to Yoshiko’s bedroom. After carefully looking through the room, she noticed some of Yoshiko’s personal belongings were missing and a bag. That’s when she figured to check Takama.

“I think she might be in Takama or maybe even Yoko.”

“What makes you think that? She could’ve gone home too.”

“No, what was missing in her room was a bag, her wallet, and some personal amenities.”

“I get what you’re saying, if she actually left for home, she would’ve taken more than that.”

“With what was gone, she is probably somewhere in Takama or Yoko, zura.”

“Okay! Now we have an idea of where Yoshiko-chan went, let’s goooo!”

“Just a minute Chika.” Kanan interjected.

“Riko-san, are you sure you’re ready for this?”

“I am.”

“Dia is right Rikocchi, this could be a traumatic experience for you if..”

“Its all right, I know that Yoshiko is in there somewhere. She’s too good a person to completely become corrupt. As long as theres even the tiniest bit of her still there, theres a chance, and I know I can get her back.” Seeing Riko sound so resolute and confident motivated Aqours. This attitude Riko has is something they don’t see often, but when it did appear, it would be about them and Yoshiko. They set off for Takama with hopes of finding their dear friend.

**At the cave:**

The torture continued, Yoshiko was breathing heavily; blood was coming out of her mouth from biting down her lips from the pain. There were now cut marks on her arms as Manah decided to step up the torture a bit. Small splashes of blood can be seen below her.

“You’re tough, I’ll give you that. You’ll be in my hands soon enough.” Yoshiko slowly looked up at her, her eyes lids were twitching, and she is trying to stay conscious. Her eyes still had a look of resistance in them.

“Oh, I love that look you have. It would be perfect when I break you and you give in to the corruption.” Manah took out her dagger and stabbed Yoshiko in the gut. Yoshiko tried to hold her yell but the sounds of pain were coming through her mouth. “Don’t worry; I’ll avoid your vitals. Let’s see how you handle mental and physical torture at the same time.”

**At Takama:**

Aqours were now searching through Takama. They checked every spot that they hung out at with hopes that at least someone had an idea of where Yoshiko was. Sadly, nobody seemed to have seen Yoshiko. They regrouped near a café and discussed where they should look next. While they were planning out their next move, an elderly lady was trying to fix a sign above the window of her store. Chika saw her and went over to help the elderly lady.

“You didn’t have to help an old lady like me, it just takes a bit of effort to fix the sign.”

“It’s okay, I wanted to, my family owns an inn so it’s a bit of a natural thing for me to do.”

“Awww, aren’t you sweet. You looked a bit troubled, is something wrong?”

“My friends and I are looking for our other friend. We haven’t seen her for a while and decided to go look for her.”

“That’s not good; I hope you find her and that she’s alright.”

“Thank you, hey um you wouldn’t have seen her by any chance would you? She was about this tall, had a side bun, dark blue hair.”

“Hmmmm, let’s see, oh you know what, I think I saw someone who might match what you said. It was tough for me to see her hair, since it was early, but I think I saw them go to Yoko.”

“Really? Thank you so much. I gotta tell my friends. Have a good rest of the day!” Chika told the group what she heard from the elderly woman and they made their way to Yoko. Yoko was smaller than Takama, so it should make searching a bit easier. They asked the residents and the monks at the temple, but it would seem nobody have seen Yoshiko. The lack of findings was deflating to say the least, but Riko wasn’t giving up and so Aqours kept searching. Riko made her way to the Cliffside for a breather, her thoughts on where her love was, if she was safe, if she was eating well. She felt a small tear fall from her eye and wiped it off. When she looked to her left, she saw something familiar near a bush. Making her way over, she recognized the bag and called the others over and optimism.

“This is Yocchan’s bag for sure. She’s the only one with this design on it.”

“Great, so we know we are heading in the right direction.”

“Yeah, but why was this left here? I can’t imagine her just dropping it and forgetting about it.”

“Let’s look around here and see if there is anything else.” They all nodded at Yo’s suggestion and scoured around the Cliffside. Kanan noticed something interesting at one spot and examined it. It would seem there was some kind of liquid and it was cold. Frost could be seen on some blades of grass but it was a mix of light blue and black.

“Whats the matter Kanan?”

“Oh Dia, I found something here, seems like ice was used here.”

“Really? Let me see.” The rest of the group saw Dia and Kanan examining the spot so they all went to them.

“Hmmm, its ice but it’s a mix of blue and black.”

“So dark magic was used here?”

“M-maybe a fight happened.”

“That can’t be right. If I fight did happen there should be more here and someone would’ve heard it. zura”

“Or, someone fought but was taken out before they could use a spell.”

“Wait, her bag was over there and now this. You don’t think…”

“We need to hurry, this could be a problem.” Riko was starting to shake. Yoshiko could be in danger and she doesn’t know how much time they have left before something bad could happen to her. Arms were wrapped around her to calm her down. When she looked at who it was, she saw Mari. Mari told her that panicking now won’t help, so it be best if they all kept their heads cool. Riko relaxed a bit and gave Mari a confident smile before they resumed their search.

It didn’t take long before Ruby noticed a weird person at the edge of the town. She called everyone over and told them stay quiet. They looked at the person and saw the cloak the person was wearing was similar to Alise’s. The person started to move and Aqours tailed them. They followed from a safe distance behind, carefully pacing themselves so they can hide should the person suspected something.

Aqours followed said person up the hill and through some woods on the east side of the road. Soon the figure stopped causing the girls to hide. The person looked around then continued on a hidden path to the right side of a hilltop. Aqours waited a bit then walked up to where their target stopped. The hidden road was somewhat wide, able to have four people walk side by side on it. It slowly winded down off the side of the hill until it came up to a bigger walkway.

**At the cave:**

Manah started to become a bit impatient with Yoshiko. The torture has been going on for almost the whole day and she has yet to give in. There is now a pool of blood coming from Yoshiko. She has cuts and stab wounds everywhere, blood spilling from them. The images from before continues to haunt her mind with her killing Riko  and Riko killing her being added into the mix. Its hard to say if Yoshiko is even conscious right now as all she could do was twitch, keeping her mind from slipping.

“I’m growing tired. How are you not corrupted yet?! It should’ve came out trying to keep you alive!” Manah grabbed Yoshiko’s face and looked at her. She looked Yoshiko in the eyes. They were clearly losing color, dilation was seen and yet nothing that Manah expected to happen happened. Disgusted, she slapped Yoshiko.

“What is it? What is it that’s keeping you from slipping?” Yoshiko didn’t respond, or she didn’t have the energy to respond. “Fine, have it your way, if you die from this then so be it. I’m ready to move on.” She got her dagger ready and stabbed Yoshiko in the chest.

**Aqours:**

“Where are we exactly?”

“Shhh. Look there are two people there at a campfire.”

“What do we do? We can’t hide if we go any closer.”

“If their cloak is any indication, we’ll have to fight them.”

“Right, I’ll make them talk when we capture them.”

“Okay, theres only two of them so four per person, everyone good?” With a confirmation they started their attack. Riko used a gust ball on the campfire sending wood onto the enemies, causing them to be temporarily distracted. Chika shot off a rock at the one on the left. The enemy saw it in time and countered with one of their own. Coming out of the debris from the counter, Yo came in with a water torrent sending her target back. The one on the right was about to attack Yo, but two fireballs was shot in her direction. She had no choice but to dodge out of the way, which ended up with her in the path of Kanan’s geyser. Before the two could recover Hanamaru trapped one in a light prison, and Mari knocked out the other with a lightning bolt.

“Where is she?” Riko began to question their prisoner.

“Where is who?”

“Hanamru-chan, release the prison.” Hanamaru complied and let her prisoner go only for her to be grabbed by her cloak.

“Where is Yoshiko?” This time Riko said it with more authority and snarled.

“Heh, like I’ll tell you anything.” Riko responded by punching her in the face. She got on top this time and repeatedly punched her until she told Riko where Yoshiko was.

“Riko-san stop. Let Mari handle this.” Riko looked over at Mari as she approached them.

“I got this. Okay?” Riko let go of the prisoner by slamming her head to the ground and Mari took her position.

“Listen here sweetie, we want to know where are friend is okay? If you tell us then we’ll be on our way and you can enjoy your camping date with your friend.”

“Hah, if I tell you, I’d be dead.”

“Oh honey, you’re better off telling us. I can’t tell you the hell you’ll be put through by our red head over there.”

“ ….”

“Not gonna talk huh? Alright, have it your way.” Mari grabbed her by the throat and forced her mouth open. Mari then took out a small vial and poured its contents into the prisoner’s mouth. A burning feeling could be felt in her throat. Then her whole body felt like it was being melted by acid. The prisoner started to scream in pain and crawled around trying to find something to stop the burning. Unfortunately for her Dia and Kanan got the only water supply she had. She crawled to them begging for the water.

“haaah haah, please, huuughhhaa, please.”

“You know what you have to do, tell us.” The pain was unbearable and she gave in.

“Cave, there, m-m-move the rock with earth spell.”

“See, wasn’t hard now was it.” They gave her some water to drink and as soon as she was done, Riko kicked her in the face and knocked her out. They went up the rock that was jutting out from the wall slightly. Chika opened the door with a “Terrabreaker” spell and as soon as it opened a chilling cry in pain could be heard. It caught them by surprise as they stood still. Then Riko ran in first recognizing the voice the scream came from.

“Please, please, please,” These words repeated in Riko’s mind as she hurried as fast as she could through the corridors of the cave. The rest were right behind her. They couldn’t hear anything anymore outside of their footsteps and the dripping of water. Hope started to slip from Riko’s mind as she kept running and running. She got to an open area first and stopped, rooted to the ground.

“Riko! Whats wrong?” The group caught up and walked up behind her. When they got next to Riko, they all fell silent. Tears started to fall, hands clasped some of their mouths, looks of horror and anguish gripped them. What laid in front of them was the last thing they ever wanted to see. On the floor, in a pool of blood, eyes that have lost its sheen, laid the lifeless body of Tsushima Yoshiko.


	25. Vs Manah

_‘How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard’_

_-Winnie the Pooh_

 

Riko held Yoshiko in her arms, crying, wishing that this was all but a terrible dream. She called out to her many times but was only met with no response. It didn’t matter to her that she was now covered in blood. She just wanted her love back. This feeling was eating away at her, as she cried into Yoshiko’s shoulder. It was worse when she realized that the last words they spoke to each other were those from their fight. Riko wanted to tell her how much she loved her, how much she needed her, how much she means to her. She wanted to hear them from Yoshiko how much she loved her, needed her, and meant to her.

The rest of Aqours could only watch on, not knowing what to say to Riko. They were devastated at the turn of events. They couldn’t have imagined that their friend would have died. Ruby was crying while Dia hugged her. Kanan and Mari clenched their fist, angry at themselves for letting something like this happen. Chika, Yo, and Hanamaru held each other’s hand trying to be strong, knowing that it’ll take everything they got to get Riko to recover from this. It wasn’t fair for someone as young as her to die like this; tortured and left to rot.

“I see the cavalry has arrived. Shame you all were too late.”  Everyone turned to the far right tunnel at the voice except for Riko. Manah walked out with a satisfied look on her face.

“Are you responsible for this?” Mari stepped forward asking in a hostile tone.

“I’d say she brought it upon herself. If only she’d given in to the corruption, this would’ve been avoided.”

“How could you do something like this to her?” Kanan stepped forward next to Mari.

“All I wanted for her to do was join me. There was no harm in that was there?”

“No harm? You tortured her to death.” Dia went and joined her best friends.

“Like I said, if she just complied with me then this would not have happened.”

“What was your goal in all this?” Ruby asked, her sadness replaced with a furious look.

“I wanted her to join my cause, change this world, using dark magic tis all. But the poor girl didn’t want to listen. I told her how to control it and yet she refused. At first it looked promising; she was becoming a bit more aggressive and was distancing herself from you all perfectly fine. If she ever had any reservations, I’d just give her a little push.” Chika, Yo, and Hanamru went to join the others.

 “To think she would still hold you all so dear to her. She just wouldn’t let you go, so I had to take measures into my own hands. Ah, those screams in pain were to die for. I had her mind filled with thoughts of seeing you all die and getting killed herself. A good watch if I might say. Then I had to get physical and used my dagger a bit. The kicker was…’

“Crescendo”, a storm of wind blades came flying at Manah. Manah deflected them all but one grazed her check. She wiped the blood from the cut and licked it. Riko walked up in front of the group hearing enough from her. A look of killing intent can be seen and it excited Manah a bit.

“Why so angry? Oh are you her girlfriend? Sorry I killed her.” The teasing tone agitated Riko more and she went in to fight. Everyone else followed her in, but not before Manah summoned some of her minions to help out. They cut off the group, but Mari was able to get by and continued in with Riko. The minions began with bolts of dark energy prompting the girls to split up. Dia and Ruby used “Twin Phoenix” off the bat to rid of their enemies. The minions responded with a combined “Dark Shield” smothering the attack. Chika came in with “Atlas Punch” from the side, two of the minions dodged, but the third one got hit and was sent into the wall. She tried to get up but was met with a geyser from Kanan, knocking her out.

Hanamaru used “Piercing Light” tracking down the remaining two minions. One of them casted a dark shield to block and the other shot out dark fireballs from behind. The fireballs were canceled out by water pillars from Yo. She then followed up by throwing “Poseidon’s Spear” at them. The spear hit the shield breaking it, but not before it died out itself. Chika used “Earth Pillar”, though it didn’t hit, it did cause the two minions to lose balance. While they were recovering, a circle of light formed above them and shot down at them. One got caught in the attack, but the other was able to get out of the way. She was about to use a spell until Dia disarmed her with a fire shot to her hand, followed by an “Atlas Punch” from Chika. With the minion’s out of the way they went to join Riko and Mari.

“Sakura Storm”, pink bullets were shot at Manah who dodged with ease. “Lightning Orb”, a ball of lightning came at Manah. She moved out of the way and then streaks of lightning started shooting out of it. They missed Manah then the ball expanded in an explosion. Manah created a “Dark Sheen” to block. Riko and Mari now stood on opposite sides of Manah. Manah looked back and forth between the two and gave a smile.

“What are you smiling about?”

“You’ll see.” Manah shot black lightning at Mari who dodged. Riko readied her next spell, but Manah disappeared leaving Riko in disbelief.

“Wha? Where did she go?”

“Right here.” Manah appeared behind Riko and hit her was an energy blast. Mari used “Raiju Cannon” just as Manah finished her attack. Manah used a dark energy blast against Mari and their attacks canceled each other out. Riko got back up and shot out energy bolts. Mari joined in soon after with lightning bolts. Manah put both hand on her wand and created a funnel of dark energy that absorbed the bolts. The funnel of energy then shot back out the bolts at Riko and Mari catching them both as their bodies gets hit by the flurry. Manah walked towards the two then roots came up from the ground and binded her right leg.

“What?”

“Itsumade’s Screech” “Twin Phoenix”, Three birds of flame came screeching at Manah. She deployed the same dark funnel from before. Manah absorbed the attacks, as much as she could. Soon the funnel of energy breaks and the combined attack sends her flying in a blaze.

“You two alright?” Kanan rushed over to check on Riko and Mari.

“Super~.”

“Didn’t expect her to absorb our attacks and fire them back at us.”

“It seems she wasn’t able to do the same when Dia, Ruby, and Hanamaru attacked.”

““Hydro Torrent”, hey help us out you three.” Yo broke off their conversation.

“Reaper Scythe”, a blade of dark energy slashed through the air at Chika, Chika raised an earth shield but it was cut through and slashed her waist. Chika rolled on the ground clutching her waist as Manah approached up to her ready to finish her off. A fireball came from behind her, which she deflected with an energy wave. She looked at where it came from and saw Ruby and Dia. The two sisters alternated fireballs and fire bolts one after another. They moved in sync with grace, almost like a dance, knowing when the other will attack and where. They steadily moved Manah away from Chika with Yo dragging Chika away. Dia used “Fox Fire” in the middle of their onslaught, the small fireballs now flying around the sisters. Ruby used “Dancing Flame”, spikes of fire formed around them and joined Dia’s “Fox Fire”. The sisters were now dancing with flames flowing around them. The flames then enclosed on them for a bit then all shot out sending a hailstorm of fire at Manah.

Manah began backpedaling and absorbed some of the fire before she stopped and sprinted to her right. She made sure to absorb some of the barrage every now and then keeping in mind her limit. There was a sudden break in the barrage as Dia and Ruby stopped to cast again. Manah used this opening to fire back what she absorbed. Dia and Ruby splitted up to avoid the counter. Ruby was now isolated and Manah went in. She charged up black lightning and fired at Ruby. Mari jumped in front of Ruby and used “Raiju Cannon” to intercept it. Cracks of lightning can be heard as the two attacks clashed. While Manah was focused on Mari, Kanan and Yo got behind Manah and combined their water torrents to attack. The attack hits her and sends her forward into the lightning blasts. Manah gets electrocuted with tremendous force, her drenched body only adding to the damage. She yelled in pain as it surged through her entire body.

When the lightning subsided, Manah was on her knees, breaths heavy after the attack. Riko walked up and crescendo’d her sending Manah back. Aqours has now regrouped, ready to end this fight.

“Ha ha ha ha.”

“Whats so funny?”

“This was better than I anticipated. I commend you all for your bravery. But this is where I win.” Manah pointed her wand to the ground beneath Aqours and a three layered spell circle formed.

“Shit, get the hell away from this spot!” Riko who was at the edge was able to move out of the circle, but it was too late for the rest as they were too far in the center to get out in time. The gravity around the group got heavy as they felt themselves get pulled into the ground. Ruby, Chika, and Hanamaru were lying on the ground, while the others were on one knee trying to get back up. Then a storm of lightning came up from the ground zapping all of them. Riko quickly turned to Manah and used “Sakura Storm”. Manah deflected her attack and shot a fireball in return.

“What is that?”

“You like, it’s called “Tollman’s Fee”, it traps the targets, then electrocutes them, and finally drains them of their life.”

“What?!”

“As long as they can stay awake, they won’t die. However long they can last that is.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“And what can you do?”

“Enough!” Riko attacked with “Coup De Grace” and Manah blocked with a shield. “Coup De Grace”, Riko used it again to which Manah blocks again. “Coup De Grace” was used a third time.

“Is that all you can do? You won’t be able to w… the hell?” The force of the attack was heavier than the previous ones. Manah was pushed back a bit. The fourth time Riko used her attack it broke through Manah’s shield and smashed her into a wall. Manah coughed out some blood in slight disbelief at what just happened.

“I’ll kill you for what you’ve done to Yoshiko!” Riko fired of wave after wave of crescendos. Manah deflected some and dodged the others. There was little room for retaliation as she’s forced to be defensive. Riko continued the onslaught, fury in her eyes. Manah absorbed a crescendo here and there within the onslaught of wind. When she was ready, she shot back a stronger crescendo that dispersed Riko’s, forcing her to stop and get out the way.

“You’ll kill me? Don’t make me laugh. Take this!” Manah used “Reaper Scythe” but shot two out this time. Riko countered it with “Crescendo”. Manah quickly disappeared after the attacks and reappeared beside Riko and hit her with a dark energy wave. Riko was pushed away, but did not fall. She stood her ground with determined eyes, “Twin Fermata”, two pillars of light formed on Manah’s left and right side. They then smashed in on Manah. She was able to jump out of the way before Riko created another fist of light hitting Manah again. “Fujin Gaze”, Riko created two pillars of wind and they crashed down on Manah before she got up. Manah gets drilled into the ground as a crater began to form.

When the attack died down, Riko looked at where Manah laid. She readied herself knowing that the fight isn’t over yet. She was right, Manah got up slowly and looked at Riko with a menacing stare. Manah now wants to kill Riko more than ever. Riko wasn’t deterred and she began to channel her spell.

“Oh no you don’t.” Manah shot a dark spike that hits Riko in the thigh. Riko stayed standing still channeling. Manah then shot a fireball hitting Riko’s left hip. Part of her clothes were burned and she began to bleed, yet she still stand. Manah drew her dagger and ran towards Riko.

“Why don’t you join your girlfriend, you can tell her how much you love her when you’re dead.” Riko opened her eys, finished with her channeling, a glimmer in her eyes. Manah felt a trange feeling, stopped and retreated a bit not knowing what was going to happen. Riko twirled her wand around her head, crossed her arms, and swiped them out to the side. “Grand Symphony”, a violin, a cello, a mini piano, and a mini tuba formed above her made from light. Riko held her arms out and took a deep breath. Once she breathed out, she was ready. She began moving her wand and hand around. The instruments began to play.

Aqours was watching the fight from inside the dark circle, using up all the strength they can muster to stay conscious. They were hoping for Riko to win, if not that then at least break the spell, so they can all fight together. Manah watched Riko carefully not knowing if she should attack now or wait. Riko waved her wand and hand from side to side, forward and back, raised it up and lowered it back down. Manah got impatient of the side show and went in with her dagger. Riko flicked her wand forward and two blades of wind flew past Manah, one managed to leave a small on her right shoulder.

‘What was that?’ Manah thought to herself. Riko was moving as if she was a conductor to an orchestra. Her eyes stayed focus on Manah the whole time. Soon enough more blades came hurling in. Manah did her best to dodge and block each one. Soon, a streak of wind formed in the air and struck downward, nearly hitting Manah.

The fight stayed like this for a while, Riko would conduct the onslaught and Manah moving around trying to keep safe. It required all of Manah’s focus to dodge Riko’s attack and keep her “Deadman’s Toll” spell active on Aqours. Manah lasted long enough to figure out a bit of how Riko’s spell worked. ‘I see now, she conducts, but that doesn’t mean she can keep the attacks coming. Its like she puts in feints to make her target move first. The violin and cello represent the blades while the tuba and piano represent the wind balls. There a certain movement they make that signals an attack, so I just need to watch for that motion.’

Manah didn’t need to wait long; Riko began to tire out as the spell began to take its toll on her. The attacks began to slow down and Manah charged forward. Riko realizing the danger did a backstep and used “Crescendo” in defense. Manah ducked beneath the storm and closed in. Then a sudden feeling of danger came to her as goosebumps rose from her skin. She stopped and looked around for the source of the feeling. While looking around, she let go of her spell on Aqours. Perplexed at what just happened, Riko escaped to where Aqours was as they are recovering their strength.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, but she’s just looking around like there’s something here.”

Suddenly a burst of dark energy sent howling winds inside the cave. Aqours covered themselves from the strong gusts. When the gust stopped, they saw Manah staring somewhere.

“You should be dead, how are you here?”

They looked in the direction of Manah’s question and saw an unbelievable site. Yoshiko was standing there, dark energy flowing around her, her side bun gone, eyes glowing dark blue, her wounds seemingly healed up, a malevolent look and smile, directed at Manah.

“Yo-Yocchan?”


	26. How Can This Be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This should be the half way mark of this work.

_‘Wake up from death, and return to life’_

_Japanese Idiom_

 

“You shouldn’t be alive. The corruption doesn’t work when the person dies. So how are you here?”

“……”

“No answer huh? Fine by me, you’ll be dead for sure this time.” Manah walked towards Yoshiko. Yoshiko stood like a rock, watching Manah as she approached her. Aqours watched the scene from the side not sure if they can believe what is happening in front of them.

“Thunder Clap”, a streak of lightning formed above Yoshiko then struck down on her. Yoshiko raised her wand up and created a dark energy shield blocking the attack. Manah used the chance and ran in with her dagger and stabbed Yoshiko in the lower left stomach.

“Yoshiko!!” Aqours yelled in unison.

“Heh heh heh, how about tha..!” Manah looked at Yoshiko, but there was no change in her expression. She just stared at her, still blocking “Thunder clap” with her wand. Yoshiko then grabbed Manah by the throat and pointed her wand at Manah’s gut. Yoshiko used “Thor’s Hammer”, but this time its black lightning, and blasted Manah across the cave room. Manah clutched her stomach in pain from the attack and coughed blood out. She looked up to see Yoshiko walking towards her throwing the dagger to the side. Manah quickly got up and shot a dark fireball at Yoshiko. It was met by a dark ice spike canceling both out. This created a small amount of smoke and more ice spikes came flying in. Manah got out of the way and fired more dark fireballs. Yoshiko began to pick up her pace and dodged each fireball before forming a dark blade from her wand. Manah prepared the same and they both clashed with one another.

The two crossed blades as sounds of fizzing energy can be heard every time their blades met. Slash, upper slash, lower slash, downward slash, Yoshiko and Manah were evenly matched in swordplay. They continued to exchange strikes until their blades were locked into each other. The blades now binded, are being pushed by their users as they battle for control. After a couple seconds, Yoshiko took the advantage and knocked Manah’s blade to the side and stabbed Manah through the mid-section. Before the blade got to deep, Manah grabbed the blade ignoring the pain of it cutting her hand. She pointed her wand at Yoshiko and got off an energy wave pushing Yoshiko back. Yoshiko staggered, then was hit in the shoulder with a dark spike. Manah followed up with a “Reaper Scythe”. The attack didn’t cut Yoshiko but it did knock her down.

“Where was this when we were working together so peacefully? It would’ve been so much easier then.” Yoshiko didn’t respond, she just got up and shook off the damage. A dark energy circle appeared behind Yoshiko and charged up before releasing a beam of energy at her. She saw it and moved to the left before it hit her. Manah then appeared in front of Yoshiko and shot off lightning. Yoshiko dodged it in the nick of time as it barely misses her head. Yoshiko then spun around and delivered a round house kick to Manah’s shoulder followed by an ice spike. The ice spike hits Manah in the right arm and she drops her wand. Manah pulled the spike out of her arm and saw Yoshiko lunge at her with another energy blade. Manah used the spike to slightly block the blade. The blade slid across the spike before it started to melt. There was enough time for Manah to make a quick turn and stab the spike in Yoshiko’s foot. She grabbed her wand and made a quick dash away from Yoshiko.

After distancing herself from Yoshiko, Manah took a quick breather, trying to regroup herself. ‘She’s so much stronger now. Just what the hell is she? She doesn’t look like she’s in control, but what the hell is keeping her moving? This shit got more complicated than I imagined.’ As Manah was thinking to herself, a light came from below her, and an ice pillar was erected sending her up into the air. She looked below her to see Yoshiko finish her channel and use “Kuraokami’s Rage”. Manah made her dark funnel to absorb as much as she could. The ice dragon flies into Manah, crashing into the ceiling of the cave. Ice began to form on the ceiling as the attack continued. When the attack ended, Manah fell from the hole in the ceiling onto the ground. Her body was now covered in frost, panting for air from severity of the attack.

Manah struggled to get up, fatigue and the damage from her fight against Aqours and now Yoshiko catching up to her. Yoshiko began her approach. She gave a slight smirk at Yoshiko before she pointed her wand out and shot back an ice dragon of her own. It was not as strong as the one Yoshiko used, but she was able to absorb enough of it to hurt Yoshiko. Yoshiko erected an ice shield to block the attack. The shield began to crack and Yoshiko got out of there. Manah disappeared for a moment before appearing next to Yoshiko.

“Wait? She was distracted wasn’t she? So how?” Manah appeared next to Yoshiko, but this time it was different from before. Yoshiko was staring right at her as if she knew where Manah would appear. Yoshiko was looking at her dead in the eye and blasted Manah with an energy wave. Manah was sent tumbling on the ground before getting back up on her feet. She grimaced in pain looking at Yoshiko trying to figure out what to do in this situation. Yoshiko pointed to her feet with her wand and she began to disappear into the floor. Soon she was gone.

“No, no, no! When did she learn that?” Manah looked around trying to see if she can sense where Yoshiko was. “There’s no way that insolent child could learn “Shadow Step” that quick. I only used it twice against her.” Manah became a bit more frantic in her search. She felt something behind her. “Ah ha! Wait, what?” She guessed wrong, there was no one there. Suddenly a wand poked her back and she didn’t have to look to guess who it was. A sudden burst of energy hit her back knocking her forward a couple yards onto the ground. ‘How?’ Manah crawled and slowly turned around in disbelief at what’s happening. She’s losing and she can’t figure out what to do against her opponent. Yoshiko walked towards her and Manah was crawling backwards away from her.

As if it wasn’t her time yet, Yoshiko knelt down grimacing in pain. That was the opening Manah needed; she pulled out a familiar charm and began to chant. Once the chant finished, she threw the charm at the ground and black smoke came out. When the smoke cleared, Manah was gone. Yoshiko stood back up, the pain now gone, staring at where her opponent was last seen.

Aqours has recovered some and began to approach Yoshiko. They don’t know what happened but were relieved to see Yoshiko alive. As they walked up, they notice blood began to drip from Yoshiko and saw that some of her wounds opened up a bit.

“Hey Yoshiko, what happened there?” Yo spoke up first.

“Are you okay? We were worried about you, zura.”

“How are you walking right now Yoshiko-san?”

“Yocchan, I’m so glad you’re okay”

“……”

“Yocchan?” They stopped, wondering what was wrong.

“Yocchan, we..!” An ice spike hit Riko in the left shoulder. She fell to the ground in pain. Mari rushed over to help her.

“Yoshiko! What the hell!” Kanan yelled. Yoshiko turned around and looked at them. The same look she had when she fought Manah was still on her face. Those dark blue eyes scanning over those that stand in front of her.

“D-don’t tell me, Yoshiko-chan?” Ruby said, worried that she already knows where this is going.

“It can’t be. We have to..”Chika didn’t want to finish her sentence.

“It seems like it.” Mari said grimly as she helped Riko up.

“I-I, no…no… Yocchan please, its us.” Riko made one last plea getting her wand out and ready. The rest of Aqours drew out their wands, sadness on their faces as they now prepare for a fight against their own. Yoshiko readied her wand and attacked first with the flick of her wand.


	27. Vs Aqours (Riko's Resolve)

_‘The worst fights are always with the people and person with whom we have the most attachment – I fight with you because my heart and soul seems to be bound with you!’_

_-Unkown_

 

There was little noise in the cave, water dripping, howl of the wind, a slight squeak of a mouse. At the center room of the cave there was a lot of blood in a corner and some dried blood pools in other parts of the ground. Craters littered a section of the ground and there was one on the ceiling with frost around it. Some burn marks were on the walls and ground. Standing at the center of the room were nine girls. Eight on one side and one on the other. The two sides stared at each other, none moving an inch.

Aqours was sad, coming to grips with what they must do. They looked over to Yoshiko, steeling their minds for the fight. Grips tightened on their wands, some sweat dripped down their faces. Some breaths were faster than others, some tiredness from their previous fight.

Yoshiko looked at Aqours and only saw bodies standing in her way. She had some blood dripping from her from her last fight. Yet, she seems to be in better shape than her opponents. Her eyes wandered from one person to the other, like a predator looking for fear in its prey. After a moment, she attacked, flicking her wrist and using “Breath of the Northern Tundra”. Riko used “Crescendo” to counter it as loud blistering howls could be heard as the two attacks collided. Three circles of light came up from behind Riko and fired at Yoshiko. She stopped her attack and began to run. The beams of light missed but began to follow Yoshiko. Yoshiko took a quick glance at the beams following her then lock on to Hanamaru.

A spear of water came low at her and a fist of rock went high. Yoshiko jumped and twisted her body, back now facing the ground, and squeezed between the two attacks. As that was happening, she aimed her wand and fired off dark ice spikes towards Hanamaru. A shield of fire came up in front of Hanamaru to block the spikes. Dia stepped forward and used “Pyro Typhoon”, a typhoon of fire came out of her wand and barreled towards Yoshiko. Yoshiko erected an ice pillar in front of her blocking the typhoon momentarily. The pillar began to melt, but gave Yoshiko enough time to cast another “Breath of the Northern Tundra” freezing the flame typhoon before it shatters into ice crystals.

Kanan and Mari combined their attacks and now a “Heavy Geyser” and “Raiju Cannon” combo heads her way. Yoshiko quickly got a dark shield up blocking the attack. The shield blocked the attack for a bit, but the combined attack was too strong and broke through and hit Yoshiko. Yoshiko tumbled on the ground and slowly got up, some bits of electricity coming off of her. Chika came in with “Titan’s Hammer”. Yoshiko sliced it in half with her dark energy blade and took a swing at Chika. It was met with “Piercing Light” from Hanamaru that staggers Yoshiko a bit. Riko came in and used “Coup De Grace” with Chika using “Atlas Punch”. The two fists knocks Yoshiko away into a wall. She opens her eyes from the impact in time to see a water spear flying her way. She moves to her right to dodge then Yo shows up readying a torrent of water. Yoshiko stopped her momentum for the torrent to just miss and shot a spike into Yo’s right shoulder.

Yoshiko continued to move along the walls of the cave. Ruby used “Illumilight” near Yoshiko, temporarily blinding her. Through the light Yoshiko saw a figure approach her with lightning coming out of it. Quickly realizing the danger, Yoshiko pointed at the figure and got off “Thor’s Hammer”. Mari surprised at the sudden attack, used “Thunder Rush” earlier then she wanted. The impacts of thunder only stopped the lightning blast from Yoshiko for a moment before breaking through and hitting Mari. Yoshiko took the chance and used “Shadow Step” and disappeared into the ground.

“Gather up and keep your eyes peeled.” Dia commanded the group. Ruby helped Mari up and supported her as they returned to the group.

“She could pop out from anywhere, cover our blind spots.” Kanan said.

“I’ll begin to chant for my “Spirit Shield”, if I can finish then we’ll have a backup just in case.” The group encircled around Hanamaru, protecting her from any attacks. They looked around, spells at the ready, for when Yoshiko appeared.

“Almost ready, zura.” Just as Hanamaru said that, spectral chains came from beneath them and grabbed their legs.

“What?”

“Don’t look away!”

Yoshiko appeared at the blind spot of Riko and Ruby who looked down for a brief moment. Yoshiko summoned a dragon of dark ice and fired at them.

“Shit!” Aqours turned ready to attack, but the spectral chains tightened and pulled them to the ground.

“Hanamaru!”

“Spirit Shield” The shield was erected in time and the ice dragon crashed into it.

“Quickly, before the shield gives out.” The girls tried to break the chains before they get caught by the attack. Ruby got out first and created a fire shield to layer with the spirit shield. Then she helped the other break free. A dragon howled, gaining more power and the spirit shield began to crack. Soon it broke and the fire shield fizzled out, but Aqours was able to get away from the chains and away from the attack. As they were running an ice pillar came up below them catching Kanan and Dia, smashing them into the ceiling.

“Onee-chan! Kanan-chan!” Ruby tried to catch her sister as she was falling. Since Dia was bigger than her, she ended up falling down from catching Dia. Yo and Chika caught Kanan.

“Are you two okay?”

“Yeah, hrgh!” The pain in their chest came and they fell to their knees. Yoshiko started running towards them. Ruby and Chika carried Dia and Kanan out of the way while Yo, Hanamaru, Mari, and Riko blocked Yoshiko’s path. Riko shot a fist of light followed by a lightining blast from Mari. Yoshiko erected an earth pillar then casted “Shadow Boost”. The pillar was destroyed by Riko’s attack with Mari’s attack following in. Yoshiko was already out of the attacks path and quickly in front of Mari. A blast of dark energy knocked Mari away. Then she jumped to Riko and kicked her in the side.

Yo shot blades of water at Yoshiko to which she dodged. Hanamaru used “Onikuma Rush” just as Yoshiko was in midair from her dodges. Yoshiko quickly blasted an energy beam at the bear. It stopped Hanamaru’s attack long enough for her to land and get out the way. Yo appeared next to her but was not expecting Yoshiko to already have readied her next attack and was hit point blank with a blast of ice sending her into a wall. Yo fell to the ground shivering from the cold and frost.

Hanamaru used “Piercing Light” followed by a light beam. Yoshiko aimed her wand and a mass of dark energy formed in front of her and fired through Hanamaru’s combined attacks. It hits Hanamaru and sends Hanamaru next to Yo. Yoshiko looked at her downed opponents before she turned her attention to the others. Just as she began looking to her right, a fist of earth hits her. Yoshiko flew across the cave but regains her footing. The remaining three of Chika, Ruby, and Yo stands before her.

Chika went in first; she snared Yoshiko with “Grasping Roots”, then readied “Titan’s Hammer”. Yoshiko was unfazed by the move, and destroyed ensnarement with dark energy and shot ice spikes at Chika. Chika dodged and jumped into the air, ready hammer smash Yoshiko. She missed her attack and Yoshiko was next to her. Yoshiko aimed at Chika’s cut on her waist and shot Chika with a straight lined bolt of lighting. Chika fell over as electricity ran through her body.

Ruby created a wall of fire separating the two as Riko came in from behind to get Chika out of there. “Pyro Typhoon”, a typhoon of fire shot out of Ruby’s wand. Yoshiko used her “Breath of the Northern Tundra”. Both attacks clashed as Ruby put all she had into her attack. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as Yoshiko’s attack pushed her back. Soon her typhoon began to freeze over and the freezing crept it’s way towards Ruby. Ruby let go of her attack to move but Yoshiko was ready and shot a spike at her hand, disarming her.

Riko was at the back looking at her friends. ‘Their hurt and tired. This mess was because my fight with Yocchan and my inability to help her when she needed it. I can’t let them get hurt anymore.’ Riko turned around to see Yoshiko breathing a bit hard. ‘No doubt she’s tired too. Okay, I’ve made my choice.’

“Ruby! Get back! You all stay back. I’ll fight Yoshiko alone.”

“What?!” They all exclaimed.

“Rikocchi, you can’t.”

“Its dangerous, you could die.”

“We should get some distance between us and heal up as much as we can. Zura”

“Riko-chan, can you even do it? It must be hurting you so much inside.”

“I know, and I am hurting inside. It hurts knowing that I couldn’t protect Yocchan. It hurts that she is corrupted now. It hurts seeing us get hurt fighting her. Everything about this hurts so much.” Tears began to pour out and she begins to shake.

“It’s because it hurts that I want to do this. I love her, so it has to be me. I want to know, if Yocchan is still in there somewhere. She could be alone, crying, hurting. If she’s still in there, than I’m sure she’ll make it. If not, then I think I should be the one to end her suffering, the one she loves.”

Ruby made her way back to the rest of Aqours. Riko turned around with a stoic look, there was no fear in her eyes, no wavering. She made her decision and she plans to see it through. The 2nd years wanted to retort, but knew it was no use from the way she looked at them. They all agreed and stood back. Riko began walking towards Yoshiko and stopped a couple of feet away from her.

“I alone will be your opponent.”


	28. Vs Riko (Riko's Love)

_“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”_

_―_ _Lao Tzu_

 

The two lovers stood in front of each other. A couple of feet separate them but it felt like that distance has only grown with the way things are now. Riko wants this gap between them to close, her hope of Yoshiko returning driving her. The current Yoshiko couldn’t care less, all she saw was someone to kill. Seconds flew by as they stared each other down. Eyes of hope met eyes of darkness.

“I’ll fight you alone Yoshiko.”

Yoshiko only gave an evil smile in return and attacked. Ice spikes came flying at Riko, to which Riko used “Crescendo” to knock them away. “Twin Fermata” was then cast; two pillars of light came from Yoshiko’s side. Yoshiko created two ice pillars in succession to block the pillars. Yoshiko formed an energy blade and went in for Riko. Riko concentrated light energy into her wand, and was able to form a blade of light. Yoshiko got up to Riko and slashed downward only for Riko to block. The two lovers clashed blades with one another, neither one falter.

 

> _“Yocchan! Wake up, we have school.”_
> 
> _“Yocchan! Can’t you clean up your mess?”_
> 
> _“Hey Yocchan, let’s take a bath together. I’ll clean you.”_
> 
> _“Where did you put my doujin? Put them back in their spot when you’re done with them.”_

They continued to cross blades. Riko slipped slightly and a few strands of her hair got cut.Yoshiko leaned in with a thrust and Riko parries it to the side, punches Yoshiko and cuts her back.

 

> “Riri! Let me copy your homework.”
> 
> “Riri, there’s this store I want to show you. Come on!”
> 
> “You’ll win next time Riri, I know you can.”
> 
> “Come here real quick, *smooch*, there. Now go and show them your true abilities.”

Riko lunged into Yoshiko grazing her waist. Yoshiko kneed Riko then struck down on her with her elbow sending Riko to the ground. Riko rolled out of the way before Yoshiko stuck her blade into the ground. She got up to see Yoshiko right in front of her and slashed her left arm. Riko ducked under the next slash and kicked Yoshiko before slashing her leg.

 

> _“Riri, let’s sleep together tonight.”_
> 
> _“Are you scared from the stories Mari told?”_
> 
> _“Pff, no, its just…. Its warmer with you.”_
> 
> _“Use extra covers, I got a spare.”_
> 
> _“I’m serious!”_
> 
> _“Okay okay, I was messing with you.”_
> 
> _“I’ll punish you for playing with your master.”_
> 
> _“Yes yes, forgive me.”_
> 
> _“I’ll forgive you, if you kiss me, and cuddle when we get to bed.”_
> 
> _“Okay, then lets get to bed then.”_
> 
> _“…..I love you Riko.”_
> 
> _“I love you too Yoshiko.”_

Their blades locked into each other, both girls pushing to take control. Soon their energy blades broke. They both quickly pointed their wands at each other and both used energy waves and knocked each other back. Yoshiko recovered and made an energy circle in front of her. Once channeled, a beam of ice was shot at Riko. Riko casted “Fujin Gaze” and twin pillars of wind met the ice beam head on. Crackling ice and sharp howls of wind can be heard throughout the cave. It was even for a couple of seconds before Riko’s attack started to push the ice beam back. Yoshiko sensed it and tumbled out of the way before the pillars of wind flew by.

Pink bolts came flying at Yoshiko when she finished her tumble. Yoshiko stood her ground and deflected the ones that were going to hit her. A fist of light followed after and Yoshiko used another ice pillar to block it. Riko bent down a bit trying to gather her breath. She looked at Yoshiko to see if she’s tiring out. It doesn’t look like it but those wounds she has should still be affecting her. Riko channeled her energy trying to use “Grand Symphony” again. Bolts of energy flew by her as Yoshiko is running trying to disrupt her. Riko sensed that she couldn’t let Yoshiko get any closer so she stopped and casted her spell before it was ready. Only a piano and violin appeared. She began to conduct them as before. Yoshiko stopped and dodged to her left as the first attack came in. The problem was that Riko only half completed her channel, so the attacks don’t come as frequently as before. This gave Yoshiko enough time to close the distance. Riko conducted faster in a slight panic, her attacks missing, before a bolt grazed her cheek. She opened her eyes and Yoshiko shot Riko in the stomach with a blast of ice knocking her onto the ground.

“Riko!”

“Don’t interfere!” Riko yelled back at her friends, some blood came out of her mouth, stopping them from jumping into battle. She groggily got up, clutching her stomach from the attack. Riko aimed and fired a beam of light. The attack was easily deflected by Yoshiko as she made her way towards Riko.

Riko fired multiple crescendos at Yoshiko. She responded by creating a dark funnel, similar to Manah’s. The first two crescendos were absorbed, but the next few broke through and sent Yoshiko to the ground. She got up and used the dark funnel again. Riko was ready to move, but nothing came at her. Yoshiko looked at her wand not sure what happened. As she looks up, two pillars of light formed to her front and back. She went to the left only to be met with two more pillars, now trapping her between four. All four crashed into Yoshiko as she tried to escape through the air with an energy wave to the ground. A fist of light met her in the air and Yoshiko was knocked to the ground.

With a deep breath Riko channeled her next spell. Yoshiko got up and beagn to channel her next spell too. A circle forms in front of Riko, and light begins to emanate from it. “Nocturnal Requiem”, a dragon of light emerges and barrels towards Yoshiko. Yoshiko used “Kuraokami’s Rage” and a dark ice dragon meet’s Riko’s attack head on. Riko screamed as she puts as much power into her attack as possible. Yoshiko clenches her teeth as she pours more power into hers. Sizzling and crackling can be heard as the attacks clashed. Soon the attacks passed through each other canceling each other out. But remnants of the attacks made their way to the opposite side as Riko and Yoshiko get hit by them.

After getting back up Yoshiko used “Shadow Boost” and ran to Riko. Riko got up and fired bolts of light at Yoshiko, but to no avail. Yoshiko was now inches away from Riko. She just stared at Riko. Riko took the chance and aimed her wand right at Yoshiko chest. Riko could easily attack as Yoshiko was basically inviting her to. She looked into Yoshiko’s cold eyes, her mind is telling her to do it, but her heart wouldn’t let her. Yoshiko had enough and hit Riko with a wave of energy knocking her onto the ground.

Yoshiko got on top and grabbed Riko by her collar, glaring at Riko menacingly. Riko looked into her eyes, her memories with Yoshiko flooding her mind. She wanted to fight back, but something inside her isn’t letting her. She watched as Yoshiko raised up her wand and point it at her. Sparks of lightning began to gather at the tip of the wand. Riko took one last look at Yoshiko hoping to find something that tells her that the person she loves is in there. Yoshiko jerked her hand back ready to attack and Riko closed her eyes in anticipation of the attack.

 

> _“This dancing thing sucks.”_
> 
> _“Come now Yocchan, we should learn for the ball the school will have.”_
> 
> _“Kind of tough since we’re both learning.”_
> 
> _“Yeah, but its fun watching you dance.”_
> 
> _“Sh-shut up. You tripped a few times yourself.”_
> 
> _“That’s because you were slow.”_
> 
> _“You should match my movements since I’m the master here.”_
> 
> _“Or maybe you should be more confident and dance a bit more freely.*pulls in*”_
> 
> _“Hiii! W-w-well I guess we have time to master this ball room dance.”_
> 
> _“Think of it as a way to bewitch everyone to worship you.”_
> 
> _“Kukukuku, have the whole school become my little demons in one night? I like your thinking.”_

*drip drip*. Riko still had her eyes closed as her thoughts of Yoshiko continue to flow. *drip* Then Riko notied that she’s still okay. *drip*. And there is something falling on her face, like water drops. *drip*, there it was again; Riko opened her eyes slowly to see what was happening. When her eyes fully opened she saw Yoshiko still with the look to kill, but there was something different about her now. There were tears slowly coming out of her eyes. Steadily more and more began to fall. Riko was in shock at what she is seeing.

“Yocchan?” Riko spoke in a soft tone.

“Yocchan? Are you… can you hear me? Yoshiko’s hands began to shake.

“You’re there aren’t you? Yocchan.” Yoshiko began to bite down on her lip.

“It’s me Yocchan. Please, I know you’re in there. Please come back.” Yoshiko’s hands began to shake more. The hand with her wand struggled to strike down Riko.

“Its okay. We’re here for you. Just come back to us.” Riko placed her left hand on Yoshiko’s cheek. She wiped a bit of the tears off with her thumb caressing Yoshiko’s check and smiling at her.

“Come back home…Come back to us…Come back to me.” Suddenly, Yoshiko jerked back and landed on her bottom. Riko sat up slowly and looked at the now trembling Yoshiko. The eyes that were once filled with malice has now been replaced with fear, sadness. Yoshiko quickly crawled back up, pointing her wand at Riko. Riko stood up and only smiled with comforting eyes. Yoshiko shot at Riko with a bolt but missed. She shot again, and again, and again, all shots missing their target by a wide margin.

“Yocchan, I’m here, everything is going to be okay.” Riko slowly walked up to Yoshiko with her arms open. Yoshiko began to back up, her hands still shaking. When she felt the wall hit her back, she turned and ran deeper into the cave, her tears leaving a trail. “Yocchan!” Riko ran after her into the cave.

“W-what do we do now?”

“Nothing, lets trust Rikocchi in bringing her back. It’ll work out.”

Riko ran after Yoshiko, following the trail of tears and some drops of blood. She reached what appears to be an end. There was a small lake and some rocks laying around. There was some light shining through a hole on the side. Riko heard some sniffling coming from behind one of the rocks and approached it. She found Yoshiko sitting, curled up with her head down.

“Yocchan.”

“……”

“I’m here for you Yocchan. Let’s go back to the others, let’s go back home together.”

“……..” No response, the only sounds Riko could hear were sniffling. Riko thought for a bit on what to do and then an idea popped up. She got close behind Yoshiko and sat down on her knees. She slowly wrapped her arms around Yoshiko, hugging her. Her head was slightly touching Yoshiko’s with her mouth close to Yoshiko’s ears.

“Yocchan, I miss you so much. It’s okay, we’re not mad at you or anything. We’re worried about you, we came here to save you….Heh, funny, remember our first night together. You told me that you would save me whenever I needed it. I felt safe, knowing you would do everything in your power to protect me. Not just me, but everyone else also. The fight with Jurogumo and Alise, I felt happy to see you protect me. I….was weak, I was not sure if I deserved you because I could never match you in combat. But, you showed me that it didn’t matter. That you loved me for everything I was… I truly believe I found someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Now, its my turn to save you.”

Riko began to hum a familiar melody. Yoshiko lifted her head up a bit, her eyes opened wide as she recognizes it. The sound of Riko’s voice, the melody that was playing by her ear, the warmth of Riko hugging her, it started to hit her. Her dark blue eyes began to dim and slowly returned back to pink.

“Yocchan…..Yoshiko…Come back us…Come back to me…..We love you….I love you.” Yoshiko slowly lost consciousness and fell backwards. Riko fell back from the sudden fall. She was sitting on her bottom now with Yoshiko still in her arms. Riko looked down at Yoshiko to check what happened. She sighed in relief and a warm smile rose up as she can see her love breathing slowly, chest raising up and down.

“Asleep are we? Rest as long as you need Yocchan. You’re safe now.” Riko got up, put Yoshiko on her back, and carried her back to Aqours.

Aqours was sitting around waiting for Riko. They bandaged themselves up and were talking about what to do when Riko returns. Ruby was watching the area that Yoshiko and Riko ran into and was happy when she saw the two come out of the pathway.

“Riko-chan!!” The group looked towards where Ruby was looking at and ran up to Riko.

“How is she? Zura”

“Sleeping.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Chika asked.

“Yeah, lets just let her rest. I’m sure she’s been through more compared to us.”

“Well Rikocchi, I’m proud of what you were able to do.”

“You’ve really grown Riko-san.”

“Thank you all. Thanks for believing in me.”

“When you give us such a determined look, how can we not put our belief in you?”

“I just wanted to fight for something I believed in and that was Yoshiko.” The girls all smiled at the warming moment. Their stress was relieved from their bodies and minds knowing that Yoshiko was back. “Now, lets all return home.” Aqours, now whole again, made their way out of the cave and back home. Riko was happy the whole way back, her love back in her arms, her soft breaths as she slept, the feeling of achievement from saving her. As they approached the school gates, she looked back to her sleeping girlfriend, and whispered “We’re home.”


	29. To Recover

Aqours made it back to the school. Relief on their faces as they can finally move past their latest predicament of finding Yoshiko and fighting off Manah. As they entered the campus, they saw Tsubasa, Erena, Anju, and Maki approach them. They relayed everything that happened as Maki took a quick look over Yoshiko’s condition. She told them to head on to her office as they continued to talk about what happened. Once they arrived, Maki told Riko to place Yoshiko in the emergency bed at the far end of the room so her team could patch up the severe injuries she had.

“So, you’re telling me that Tsushima-san was dead.”

“That’s correct, Yoc… Yoshiko, wasn’t breathing and had no pulse when we found her.”

“And as you were fighting, Tsushima-san all of a sudden got up and fought.”

“Yes, Yoshiko-san woke up and was surrounded by dark energy. She handled Manah easily before Manah escaped.”

“But that wasn’t the end of it.”

“No, Deputy Headmistress Toudou, she then attacked us and we had to fight Yoshikocchi ourselves.”

“That’s troubling indeed. Having to fight her must’ve been taxing on you all in more ways than one. It must’ve been a good thing I told you about that possibility when I did.”

“Yes, it was tough, but we did what we could and Riko ended the fight before it could’ve gotten any worse.”

“Sakurauchi-san did?  How?”

“I don’t know, Yoshiko was on top of me ready to kill me, but she suddenly stopped. She was crying, like she was in pain, suffering about what was happening at that moment. I reached out to her, talked to her, hoping to snap her out of whatever she’s going through. She ran away and I followed her. When I found her, I just told her how I felt about her and she passed out suddenly a few moments later.”

“It would appear you have some powers of your own if you could stop someone’s corruption.”

“Or it could be her love transcended that of the darkness.”

“I still find it hard to believe that she was dead then revived. I mean there are aspects of dark magic that we still don’t know about of course. But still, all the stab wounds and cuts she has. They were all perfectly made, avoiding vitals. Then there’s this one in her chest that was clearly intending to kill her if she wasn’t already dead from bleeding out. She still had them when I checked, and they were starting to open up again, so she could’ve bled out again.”

“Yes, its very fortunate that you all were able to rescue Tsushima-san before anything else could’ve happened. I do have a concern though.”

“What is it Deputy Headmistress Yuuki?”

“What if she wakes up again and is corrupted?”

“She won’t.”

“How can you be sure Sakurauchi-san?”

“I…. I just am. She won’t.”

“……. Okay, we’ll go with it for now. Just know if it gets dangerous then we’ll have to act”

“I understand…. May I also put in a request?”

“You may.”

“I….I want Yoshiko near me as she recovers. Is there any way you will allow it?”

“I can. I’ll treat her today and tomorrow. After that, I’ll put in a request to have her moved to the medical room at your residence tomorrow afternoon and have Nico take care of things.”

“Thank you.”

Riko and the rest of the girls bowed and turned around to leave. Riko gave one last look at Yoshiko before she left. They went to the dining hall to grab a bite to eat. Many students came by to check up on them as they saw the injuries and somewhat somber air about them. Aqours moved to Mari’s room to unwind. It was quiet; nobody really talked or even knows how to break the ice. All they were able to do was reflect on what has happened today and how lucky they were.

Riko excused herself to go to the bathroom. As soon as she closed the door, she broke down into tears. Thinking back on things, it finally hit on her at how close she was to losing Yoshiko. That fight they had, the feelings that came when she found her, the feelings of holding onto Yoshiko when she was lifeless, it was so painful for her. What made it worse was the possibility of her having to kill Yoshiko herself when they fought. Riko wanted to cry at that moment in the cave, but she stayed strong, holding onto her beliefs that Yoshiko was still there. Through the crying Riko suddenly realized how long she’s been in there and washed her face, hoping not to worry her friends. When she left the bathroom, Mari was there waiting for her.

“Riko, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just needed some time to myself.”

“Come here.” Mari extended her arms out, wanting to give Riko a hug.

“….” Riko was silent at the gesture, but slowly moved in and hugged Mari.

“Its okay. You can let it all out. We all know this is hitting you the hardest and that you’re staying strong because that’s how Yoshiko would be if she was in your shoes. We’re here for you honey, so let it all out.” Riko then broke down, crying into Mari’s shoulder. “There, there, let’s go back to the living room.” Mari guided the still crying Riko back to the others and everyone came in for a hug also. Riko let out all her feelings as they listened. The mood got lighter, once Riko let everything out. This was what they were waiting for, for Riko to open up about what she was feeling. They knew it was eating up inside of her and that she needed to relieve herself of those feelings. Once Riko was done, they all decided now was a good time to go back to their rooms and rest.

The next morning, Riko woke up. She would immediately get ready for school, but today she stayed in bed a little longer. She looked over to the spot next to her, the spot where Yoshiko would lay hugging her when they slept together. She placed her hand on the spot and whispered “Yocchan” before she got up and left her room. Riko stopped before she entered the bathroom and looked over at Yoshiko’s bedroom door for a second. After that, she would freshen up and get dressed. Once she was ready, she headed out to meet up with the rest of the group for breakfast. Normally, Riko would make breakfast for her and Yoshiko unless plans to eat together with Aqours were made.

When breakfast was done, they all went to class. It was the normal chatter among the 1st years as they went to class, Riko stayed quiet most of the time unless she was spoken too. Entering class, Riko would look at her and Yoshiko’s seats, and then she would sit down and look over to where Yoshiko would sit. Knowing, Yoshiko was out for a while, Riko made sure to take extra notes for her. She did the same for the other classes. Lunch time came, Riko got her food and headed over to the Healers’ Office and sat at Yoshiko’s bedside. She ate lunch there quietly, watching over her love. Maki came in and said all the preparations were ready and asked if Riko would like to help move Yoshiko over to the medical room at the Guilty Kiss house. Riko agreed and helped move Yoshiko onto a stretcher as they transported Yoshiko. Once, Yoshiko was in the Guilty Kiss medical room, Riko took her spot next to her and began to read a book. Before she left to go to her next class, Riko would give Yoshiko a light kiss on her cheek.

The next few days followed the same routine. Riko taking a bit longer to get ready for school as she remembers Yoshiko, taking extra notes for her, eating lunch next to her bedside, and kissing her on the cheek before she left. The rest of Aqours would come by time to time to check on Riko and Yoshiko, spending some time with them. One day Nico told Riko to just head to the room during lunch. Riko did as she was told and saw Nico there with lunch prepared at the table.

“Come, join me for lunch.”

“Thanks…. This is good.”

“Of course, it’s made by yours truly.”

“I forgot you knew how to cook.”

“Well, I have to make sure my residents know my greatness by feeding them delicious food every now and then. Not that Honoka’s isn’t good.”

“Thank you for looking over Yoshiko, when I can’t.”

“It’s no problem. I’m used to watching over troublesome people if you haven’t notice your housemates.”

“Hahaha, true. I’m amazed you can keep up with everyone.”

“Well, it takes someone truly special like me to keep all of you in line. Rin and Kotori got the easier houses, but hey, just shows how amazing I can be.”

“Hmhm!”

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, you just talk like Yoshiko sometimes.”

“Yeeees, Nozomi won’t stop bugging me about that.”

“….”

“Listen kid… Riko, I know our first meeting didn’t really…. go well and my treatment of you didn’t help.”

“You didn’t really talk to me much unless you wanted me to keep an eye on Yoshiko and Mari. Oh, and during house events.”

“Yeah and you know why? Its because I knew I can trust you. You are the most level headed resident here, I was elated to find out you weren’t as crazy as the rest of them. Hell, you remind me of someone and I knew that you would be able to take care of things yourself.”

“Wow, you really believed in me?”

“Of course, you’re much less likely to cause me headaches than Mari or Yoshiko. I have high expectations of you, like I have for them both. You might take a bit longer to fully develop, but once you do, I’m positive you’ll be the hidden star of Guilty Kiss. Let Mari and Yoshiko take the limelight, which fits them with how ridiculous they can be. But behind them is you, the pillar that keeps them going. I mean isn’t that what it is between you and Yoshiko?”

“Yeah.”

“You really love her huh?”

“I do.”

“Its amazing how love can solve problems. Well, it was nice having a heart to heart chat with you, do take care now and make sure Mari doesn’t blow up another part of campus okay?”

“I will, thank you for everything.”

Nico cleaned up the dishes and left the room. Riko took a few moments to think on what Nico told her before realizing the time. “Well Yocchan, time for me to go to class. I’ll see you in a bit.” She kissed her on the cheek and went to class. When her afternoon class was over, Riko hurried over to the Guilty Kiss medical room, so she can spend time with Yoshiko. She saw the rest of Aqours heading in that direction and greeted them. Together they went to check up on Yoshiko. What they did not expect to find was Maki, Nico, and Tsubasa in the room.

“Ah there you girls are, we need to talk about something.”

“Umm sure, whats going on?” Riko said noticing the serious looks on their faces.

“Nishikino-sensei, if you may.”

“Okay, so we’ve been taking care of Tsushima-san for almost a week now, but it’s a bit troublesome that she has yet to show even the slightest sign of waking up.”

“I’m sure you all have noticed it by now, that she just lays there, not even the slightest movement outside of her breathing.” Nico added.

“I mean yeah, but she was seriously hurt during the fight and she was basically dead when we found her.” Mari answered.

“Yes, but with my treatments, she should’ve showed some signs of consciousness. A twitch, a sound, something that could tell me that she’s making progress.”

“What’s going to happen to Yoshiko-chan?” Ruby asked meekly.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. I’d say she’s in a come, but something feels a bit off about what’s going on.”

“So what? Are you saying her life is in danger again?” Riko’s voiced was a bit louder with a hint of anger.

“I don’t know, but it’s possible with the situation as it is.”

“Yocchan’s fine! She’ll pull through, I know she will.”

“Sakurauchi-san, calm down. Nishikino-sensei is only stating what she’s seeing right now. If I had to make a guess, it is possible she is at a crossroad right now.”

“Headmistress Tsubasa, could you elaborate.” Dia said.

“We know this isn’t the first time she entered the corrupted state. The first happened with Alise and now it happened with Manah. The difference this time was Tsushima-san was pushed into it, with Manah’s guidance and eventually her torture. This time it would appear the corruption has spread even more and has full control over Tsushima-san resulting in her fighting you all. However, Sakurauchi-san broke her out of it and she passed out soon after. I think it is possible that her life right now is at the point where she is stuck between choosing to live with the corruption taking her over again or dying without it happening.”

“D-dying? No no no! She can’t.” Frustration began showing on Riko’s face as the conversation took a turn she didn’t want it to take.

“Believe me, its tough. But it’s no lie that the corruption has a deep grasp of her. If she regains consciousness then it might only be a matter of time before she loses it again.” Tsubasa said sternly. What was once hope has now turned grim as Aqours are shocked at the sudden event. Kira, Maki, and Nico looked at them, waiting for their responses. Riko clenched her hands and bit down on her lip. She was angry, frustrated, after everything they went through for it to come down to Yoshiko possibly dying again. It would completely shatter her heart if it did happen.

Riko was about to burst from her raging emotions before the air in the room turned cold. Everyone noticed the sudden drop and looked around for whatever could have caused it. Then a sudden burst of energy came erupting out from Yoshiko. Tsubasa, Maki, and Nico got in front of Aqours with their wands drawn fearing for the worse. Yoshiko opened her eyes and sat up on the bed. She was holding her head with her left hand, blocking the view of her eyes. She turned to the side of the bed and put her feet to the floor, before she looked up at the group. Aqours knew those eyes; the realization of it happening again slowly hit them. They didn’t want to go through with fighting Yoshiko again, not like this. What’s worse is that Tsubasa, Maki, and Nico were here so they can kill her if it gets to that point. Yoshiko slowly got up on her feet and stood there. Riko got pass the three in front of her and ran to Yoshiko.

“Sakurauchi-san! Don’t!”

“Wait! Let Rikocchi handle this.” Mari said. Riko stood in front of Yoshiko.

“Yocchan? Can you hear me? It’s your Riri.”


	30. Soul to Soul: My Light and My Darkness

“Hey! Get up already.” A familiar voice was heard. “Come on sleeping beauty, there’s no princess that’ll wake you up with a kiss, now get up.” The person raised their voice this time. Yoshiko slowly opened her eyes and saw a white sky. She grimaced in pain as she slowly rose up, placing her left hand on her head.

“Urgh, what, where am I?” She looked around and there was nothing but white. She was able to stand and continued to survey her surroundings, not sure of what was going on.

“Finally! You got up, I wasn’t gonna be happy if you died after all of that.”

“Huh? Who are you? Where are you?”

“Over here.” Yoshiko looked around, unsure of where, “over here”, was. Eventually a figure formed a couple of feet to her right. When the figure finally materialized, it looked familiar.

“Wait! Are you, me?”

“Yep.”

“How?”

“Well, I am you, but not you.”

“What?”

“I’m your corruption.”

“My corruption?”

“Tis what I said, yes? The real question is what you are going to do now.”

 “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m sure you know this, but you technically died. I saved you, the corruption in you saved you.”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s tough to explain but the corruption gave you enough life and held out long enough for you to come back momentarily. Once an ounce of life was established, I took over. Whether you were conscious at the time or not, it didn’t matter.”

“So what, resurrection magic?”

“Not necessarily. Resurrection magic is only a temporary thing. What we have here is….a result of your soul and the corruption starting to merge together. Your light faded, the darkness tried to make up the difference.”

“Okaaaay? So where are we if I’m alive like you said?”

“School.”

“School? Its nothing but…nothingness here.”

“Purgatory or Limbo, is what you could call this place.”

“I’m alive, but I’m stuck in Limbo.”

“A smart one I see.”

“Hey, if you’re me then you’re just making fun of yourself.”

“Its good to laugh at yourself every now and then.”

“Tch, good point.”

“On to important matters, the reason you’re here.”

“I assume if I’m here then, I can still die.”

“That is correct. You are healing in the living world as we speak. But your mind, your soul, it hasn’t been healed yet, hence you being here. So if you perish here then you die there.”

“How do I get back?”

“Whenever you want. That is, if you want to.”

“Of course I want to.”

“Then go ahead, leave.”

“……”

“……”

“I can’t leave, why?”

“Because there is something else holding you back from returning.”

“What?”

“Yourself. You regained a bit of your consciousness at some point when I was in control, and what you witnessed was you attacking your friends and of course trying to kill Riko. You couldn’t do anything about it as if it was like a dream, only what you saw was really happening.” Yoshiko fell silent from this statement. Her other self was right, she was fighting against her friends, against Riko, and she tried to kill them. It pained her to see it, but she couldn’t control herself as she fought them. Yoshiko’s mood went grim, not knowing what to do.

“You have to want to go back to them. A part of you wants that, but another part of you doesn’t. A part of you wants to die.”

“I.. I want to be with them. But do I really deserve that right? I fought them and tried to kill them, my best friends in the world. I tried to kill Riko even though I told her I’d protect her.”

“Yes, I know. Honestly, they went through the trouble to rescue you and they did. There’s no way they hate you now.”

“What about me?! I hate myself for letting it get to this point! I let the corruption control me, I hurt Riko’s feelings, all because I was frustrated that I couldn’t find a way to control it. I had her in my hands, hurt, and ready to kill.”

“But, in the end you didn’t.”

“I wasn’t in control then, I lost it.”

“Well, what about now? You got a full taste of what the corruption is. Hell, you’re speaking to it. Do you think you can control it now?”

“What’s your point?”

“If that’s what you’re true feelings are then it’s obvious what the barrier in your way to return is. It’s me, the very corruption that put you in this state. I’m the doubt, the negative feelings, the negative thoughts, and the fear that’s holding you back.”

 “So it all comes back to dark magic again.”

“It’s what you and mom chose.”

“I don’t even know. Say I get pass you somehow, how do I know I won’t lose it again and try to kill people.”

“Easy, you learn how to control it.”

“I’ve tried, my mom tried, it got us nowhere.”

“Really? Maybe you’re overlooking something.”

“What? Are you saying you know a way?”

“Maybe?”

“Tell me!” Yoshiko got close to her other self and grabbed her shoulders, wanting to know.

“Okay okay, just let go would you. Manah was partially correct about a way to control it. It’s different for everyone, but the unifying factor is that they want to reject the corruption to show its possible to use for good. To let go is just one interpretation of how to achieve it.”

“To let go, let go of everything is what she said.”

“That was her interpretation of it. It can technically work. Have nothing that the corruption can feed off of to increase its influence. But, there’s another way to look at it.”

“Which is?”

“Look, we are all trying to live our lives in this world. There is one fact that stays true about people. Where there is light there is dark. All people have light and darkness in them. I’m your darkness personified from dark magic.”

“So what you’re saying is corruption is just the darkness in people, but more prominent from people who use dark magic.”

“Correct, dark magic makes darkness have more of a presence in a person. That does not necessarily mean they are evil though as they still have to act. But what if said person accepts the fact that they have corruption in them and lets that energy flow through them, become one with them, then there is a chance of controlling it. It becomes a part of them instead of a foreign presence in them.”

“Accept it? How do I know it won’t backfire and the person loses control?”

“Acceptance is just the first step. What happens then is up to the user and their will. Can they retain who they are when the corruption feeds into their mind? Their soul? Manah let go. The corruption spread and before she knew it, she’s a completely different person. A person with nothing is easy prey. The darkness can easily swallow the person with nothing to hold it back. It would take someone really special to make darkness theirs when they have nothing. Is rejection a way to hold it back? No, rejection only makes it want to consume more.”

“Manah didn’t reject it though.”

“Like I said, its only the first step. She didn’t make it past the next, which was to control it. It consumed her and the result is a false belief of accomplishment when in actuality, she’s no longer who she was. Her pursuits blinded her on what was really happening. That power hungry emotion from the corruption is tough.”

“Is it possible for someone to gain control of the corruption and yet still be evil?”

“Yes. A person can indeed master dark magic and commit crimes with it while being sane. As I stated before, the person still needs to act.”

“….”

“What about you? Is your will strong enough for you to remain you with this power?”

“My will?”

“You want to be with them right? To be with her?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then what is there for you to debate?”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I’m you remember, so technically you’re helping yourself to stay alive.”

“How could you know a way to control the corruption from dark magic?”

“Because you knew the answer all along, it was right in front of you. You just couldn’t piece it together because of all the things that happened.”

“…”

“With Jurogumo, Riko was bitten. You panicked and was angry. The darkness came up and continued for a brief moment when the 2nd years were in trouble. You were technically in control then. With Alise, your arm was almost bitten off and Riko was about to die. Your emotions were swirling inside as you struggled to do something. The darkness came up and took over. You came back for a bit when she called your name, but lost it again. And finally with Manah, she pushed the darkness in you, making it stronger as you began to lose your way. Your lover’s quarrel was the tipping point. You could’ve fallen right then and there and yet you didn’t. Manah tortured you, trying to make me come out and take control over you, so she can manipulate you to her cause. Yet, you didn’t give in. Why? What or who was it that kept you from falling?”

“…”

“You died and that should’ve been it. But for some reason the corruption wasn’t having it. It festered and before the death blow, it began to become one with you. And that in turn gave you new life once it progressed enough. You came back to life and fought and I’m sure you know what happened from there. Now we’re here, at the crossroads. You can die if you want, but I won’t like it. Or after this little soul to soul moment, we finish the merge. You as your light and me as your dark.”

“I feel stupid.”

“It’s alright now, better late than never. So, are you ready?”

“Yeah, I want to go back to them.”

“Are you ready to accept me, knowing that if you fail then…”

“Yeah, and I won’t fail this time. My feelings for them, for her, will keep me going.”

“All right, then how you use dark magic is up to you and controlling the corruption is up to you also. Here, hold my hands. This might take some time but I doubt they’ll declare you’re dead.” Yoshiko did as she was told. She held her other self’s hands and leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. They both then closed their eyes and Yoshiko felt energy flowing into her. Her other self slowly began to disappear, energy particles coming off of her. Soon her other self completely disappeared and a bright light engulfed Yoshiko.

When Yoshiko woke up, she felt dark energy coming off of her. She found that she was in a bed and in a room somewhere. She got up from the bed but her senses were still coming back to her, so she was still a bit lost at where she was. When she looked left, there were blurry figures of people. Yoshiko got up from the bed and one figure ran up to her, pass three that looked like they were going to fight. A little bit later, her senses cleared up and she saw the one person she wanted to see the most right in front of her. Yoshiko slowly walked up to the red head.

“Yocchan? Can you hear me? It’s your Riri.”

Yocchan, Riri, those nicknames meant the world to Yoshiko, as she felt her heart warm up from the voice that said them Yoshiko got closer and looked up to her. She looked up and down at the girl’s figure then locked eyes with her. Then Yoshiko wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

“Riri, I’m sorry, I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

“Its okay Yocchan, its my fault too. I’m so glad that you’re back.”

“I’m home.”

“Welcome home.”


	31. Reflection

Yoshiko laid down on her bed, thinking about every that has happened since winter break ended. Meeting Manah wasn’t a coincidence and it turned out true as she revelaed what she was planning. It drove Yoshiko mad and she ended up hurting people and most importantly hurting Riko. She almost accepted her torture as punishment to make amends for what she’s done. Though the pain she suffered at the hands of Manah was nothing compared to the pain she felt when she hurt Riko. Death seemed like the perfect escape at the time.

After waking up to a room full of startled people, Yoshiko explained her current status to everyone. Tsubasa acknowledged that Yoshiko is in control for now and left with Maki and Nico. The rest of Aqours came in for a group hug, tears of joy falling from their faces, seeing their friend has now fully returned. Yoshiko then went to the two girls she injured and apologized repeatedly for harming them. At first, they were skeptical, but seeing how sincere and regretful she was, they accepted her apology and looked past the incidents.

Riko came into her room and asked if she’s okay. Yoshiko looked to Riko and said yes before looking back up to the ceiling. Footsteps could be heard as Riko approached the bed and laid next to her. Riko brought Yoshiko in for a hug and stroked her head. Yoshiko buried her face into Riko’s chest.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to prevent all that stuff from happening.”

“It’s my fault for letting Manah corrupt my mind. I lost it and took it out on you.”

“I wished she was killed or at least captured for what she’s done to you.”

“……How did you find me?”

“We looked everywhere for any clues of where you went. Things led us to Takama then to Yoko, then we found someone suspicious and followed them to the cave you were in.”

“I thought you would’ve left me after what I said to you.”

“Yocchan, I was hurt with what you said. It was painful with you ignoring me those past few days. I thought you didn’t like me anymore. Slapping you was even more painful; I never thought I would do something like that to you out of anger.”

“I really deserved it with my behavior.”

“But you know what, I still loved you. I thought that we could fix this by talking it out with our friends for support.”

“I cried that night, I cried next to your door. I was really sorry for what happened.”

“I wanted to fix our problem that night, but I was such a mess emotionally, I couldn’t come out of my room.”

“Same, I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to apologize but, I was too weak to actually do it, Then I just left, I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“The scariest thing, the worst possible thing, the most painful thing was when we found you, and I thought I lost you. You laid there, cold, no signs of life, it felt like my heart was being torn out of me the more I tried to find any sign of life in you.” Riko began to tear up.

“…”

“The fact that you were dead and the last memory we had of each other was our fight, was the worse possible thing. My world was falling apart in front of me. But then Manah showed up and just talked about how she manipulated you and thought you were better off dead. I was angry, I wanted to make her suffer and kill her.”

“Then that was when I came back to life.”

“I felt relieved, and scared. That look on your face was the the same as Manah’s and even Alise’s. You fought her off despite your wounds from your torture. It gave me hope that you were back when you won.”

“But the worse possible outcome happened. I fought Aqours, I fought you. I hurt them and I hurt you.” Yoshiko looked at Riko’s shoulder, waist, and then her thigh. She ran her hand over them, the memories of her fighting Riko playing in her mind.

“I said that I would kill you to free you from your pain, but I didn’t know if I had it in me to actually do it. I wanted to believe you were still there and I was right. When you cried and didn’t kill me, I knew you were still there. I had to save you, no matter what.”

“Thank you for saving me at my worst.”

“Anything for you Yocchan.”

“To think my Riri would grow into such a strong person.”

“It’s because I have you here with me.” The two continued talking about their feelings and thoughts on the recent incident. Eventually they fell asleep in each other arms, happiness with the comfort of each other.

The next morning, Yoshiko woke up but there was something missing. The warmth of another person. She looked over to see Riko was gone. No panic arose though as she knew Riko was normally the first one up, but she wished she could’ve had a morning kiss though. Tiredly, she got up fromt the bed and went to the bathroom. Once she was done, she returned to her room to get dressed. What was surprising was when she went to the living room, the rest of Aqours was there. They looked at her with big smiles and all started to walk towards her.

One by one they hugged Yoshiko and said some nice words to her. They were mainly welcome back, glad you’re okay, etc. Yoshiko was a bit lost, and didn’t really know what to say, but she felt touched that her friends cared so much for her.

“Hoh? Are you crying Yoshikochhi?”

“What? No I am not. Just some ninja cutting onions.”

“Hahahahah! That’s really funny. There’s not really a ninja here is there?”

“No Chika-chan, there’s no ninja here cutting onions.”

“It’s good to see you’re up Yoshiko-san. Hope your injuries are recovering.”

“Yeah, they’re getting there…Hey, um, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened. I was lost for a bit and it turned into something really bad.”

“That’s all in the past now. We’re all good friends, so no harm done, zura.”

“Of course you missed a bit of school, so you have some catching up to do?” Kanan said.

“No, do I have to?”

“Yes you do and you still need to talk to some of the teachers about missing so many days.”

“I was injured.”

“I’m sure they’ll take it easy on you Yoshiko-chan. We’ll help you with the work if you want.”

“Yes please. It’s like Ruby is the only person here with good news for me.”

“Well Yocchan, causing trouble leads to more trouble.”

“Yeah yeah, can we just go now, I dread the evenings wasted away because of homework.”

 

**Elsewhere:**

“I’ll kill her! The next time we meet, I’ll fucking kill her.”

“Calm down will you. It’s disturbing my tea time.”

“Shut up! This wouldn’t have happened had you killed that red head before.”

“Excuse me?”

“If the red head died then all I had to do was manipulate an empty puppet into our cause.”

“You lost to them too, so don’t act like you did any better.”

“I did do better. I killed her!”

“And yet she wakes up and kicks your ass.”

“It would’ve been easy to revive her myself.”

“But?”

“Resurrection is only temporary. She won’t have the full abilities that she displayed if she’s just a corpse moving from the energy I put into her.”

“Pfft, it could’ve helped you kill those brats.”

“Why don’t you go play with your oversized mutt? Oh wait, she’s dead.”

“Bitch, I’ll have you know I’m in the process of getting a new one. Hell maybe even two?”

“Yeah? So?”

“I’ll have someone to play with, unlike Ms. I threw everything away.”

“You want to go?”

“It’ll be my pleasure to smack you around a bit.”

“That’s quite enough you two.”

“……”

“……”

“So what do we do now?”

“We continue with the plan. We destroy the magic schools and Uranohoshi is on the list.”

“What about her?”

“Look, whether or not she becomes corrupted again doesn’t matter. If she dies then so be it. There are plenty of other people there we can corrupt to become foot soldiers. Ones that will provide less resistance.”

“Those teachers will be a problem though, trust me.”

“I know, killing them is the only option.”

“So annoying.”

“Doesn’t matter. We knew it’ll be tough from the beginning. Hey! It’s your turn so wake up and get ready.”

“zzzzzzz”


	32. Training

“Dia, I need to ask you something?”

“Oh? What is it Yoshiko-san?”

“I would like to spar against you?”

“What brought this on?”

“I want to train a bit and I figured you would be the best person to train with?”

“I’m honored you view me so highly. I accept your invitation.”

“Awesome, let’s head to a field outside of campus.”

“Alright, I was hoping to get this chance with you sometime soon.”

Yoshiko has trained for a few days now after she’s been cleared. Though the injuries still need time to fully recover still, she still goes out to train whenever she could to learn how to control her now acquired dark magic. So far, she knows the physical enhancement spell and the spell boost form of dark magic. There are other spells like resurrecting the dead and mind control. But, Yoshiko steered clear of those as those were much higher level spells and practically illegal. Some like the dark veil and dark funnel was something that she’s been working on.

Yoshiko would go away from campus and train either in the forest or in the open plain north of the school. Every now and then Riko would tag along to keep watch and make sure Yoshiko doesn’t over do it. What was clear though, was Yoshiko’s stamina gets drained at a faster rate. Using a few dark spells and then boom, fatigue kicks in, and her body aches. The first time Riko saw this, she panicked and rushed over to Yoshiko, worried that something bad was going to happen. Yoshiko assured her that she won’t fall and she has things under control. Riko didn’t believe it as she watched her girlfriend kneel over like she was going to throw up and told her to stop if she feels like she was going to pass out.

Dia and Yoshiko walked to an open grass field a good distance away from the school. They stood a good distance apart. Looking at each other, they waited for the signal to start. The signal was a small flare Dia shot up. Once it hits the ground the sparring can begin. The two watched as the flare between them dropped slowly and once it made contact with the ground, they began the battle.

Dia casted “Phoenix Flare” off the bat. Yoshiko wasn’t surprised by Dia starting off using that attack and readied “Breath of the Northern Tundra.” The two attacks canceled each other out and they began running towards each other. Energy bolts followed as they both fired a flurry at each other, each one hitting the other.

Dia slid on the ground and did a leg sweep. Yoshiko jumped and aimed her wand at Dia and shot off an ice bolt. Dia using her momentum, rolled into a one hand stand and fired a fire bolt from the hand stand hitting Yoshiko in the stomach. Yoshiko staggered back as Dia got back to her feet. They both flicked their wands and a wave of fire and ice clashed sending both users back.

Yoshiko used “Shadow Boost”, wanting another close quarter’s encounter. She ran at Dia, with a dark energy blade at the ready. Dia saw Yoshiko’s charge and twirled in a circle, drawing a circle on the ground with a thin stream of energy. Then a ring of fire shot up from the ground forcing Yoshiko to stop before she ran into it.

Yoshiko looked for a way to get pass the ring of fire Dia created with her “Shadow Boost” still in effect. She looked up and saw the ring stopped at a certain height and got ready to launch herself up there with a pillar and a boosted jump. Before she could though, a fire blast came from the ring of fire and Yoshiko was forced to dodge as more blasts headed her way.

While running, Yoshiko charged a “Thor’s Hammer” and infused dark energy into it. Once she had an opening, she fired it at the ring of fire. It worked as it ate away the ring and out came Dia. She was running and twirling her wand. Yoshiko fired dark ice spikes at her. Dia dodged a few before stopping. There was a slight stream of fire rotating at the tip of her wand. She stopped twirling her wand and used “Fire Howler”. A shuriken of flames formed and headed towards Yoshiko. Yoshiko raised an ice pillar only for it to be sliced by the flame shuriken. Yoshiko dodged left and saw the trail of fire it left as it went passed her and dispersed.

Yoshiko quickly erected multiple ice pillars in front of her. Dia used “Meteor Smash” to destoy the layers of pillars. By the time the last pillar fell, Yoshiko shot out “Kuraokami’s Rage.” Dia shot a string of fireballs at it to slow the attack down before got out of the way. Dia created a pillar of fire in front of her and began her cast. Yoshiko readied another “Thor’s Hammer” infused with dark energy. As she was charging, Yoshiko fell on one knee as the fatigue has caught up from using her dark magic.

When she looked up Dia used “Pyro Typhoon”. Dia expected her pillar to be destroyed by now, but since it didn’t she stepped away from the pillar to attack. Yoshiko barely got out of the way in time. She knew she needs to end it now. She began to cast but was interrupted by a fire pillar. More pillars came up from the ground as Yoshiko ran around. She put all she had to one final “Thor’s Hammer”. When she looked across the field, she saw Dia heading towards her then a fire pillar came up. Yoshiko fired at the pillar and destroyed it, but Dia has ducked out of the way.

Dia got up close to Yoshiko, grabbed her arm, and flipped her to the ground. Pointing her wand to Yoshiko’s face, Dia declared her victory. Yoshiko laughed and conceded. A smile came up on Dia’s face as she offered a hand to Yoshiko. Yoshiko shook her head and sat up. She patted to a spot next to her and Dia sat down with Yoshiko.

“Good match.”

“I have to say, I’m satisfied with it. You were as good as I expected you to be.”

“You got better.”

“Of course. I have a little sister to protect. That and seeing Riko-san grow makes me want to work harder. Everyone else feels the same way too.”

“Like you don’t work hard.”

“It’s who I am to put my best effort forward.”

“Man, I’m so tired right now.”

“Hey now, I’m not waking you up if you fall asleep here.”

“That’s fine. Riri will find me.”

“Why didn’t you ask Riko-san to help you train?”

“She’ll worry too much. It won’t be good if she holds back.”

“True.”

“What are you doing?”

“Giving you a nice head pat.”

“Why?”

“You’re like a little sister to me, albeit a troublesome one.”

“What makes you think I like this kind of thing?”

“I don’t know, you just look like it.”

“Oh yeah? I can do the same.” Yoshiko pats Dia's head.

“……”

“You’re right, it doesn’t really fit you.”

“See? I give the head pats.”

“Maybe I should train against you, Kanan, and Mari.”

“I think you should. Also do it with the others. That would help us get better against dark magic.”

“Sure, that sounds like the best option. The broom race is coming up isn’t it?”

“That is correct. Are you going to participate?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not.”

“Be a shame if you don’t.”

“Why?”

“Then I can beat you there like here.”

“It’s just one match.”

“Which makes me 1-0 against you.”

“Am I in the same echelon like Kanan and Mari now?”

“I don’t know, we’ll see.”

“……”

“I hear you and Riko-san are practicing ball room dancing.”

“Where’d you… nevermind, I can probably figure that out.”

“You two should really attend. I think you might win best couple.”

“Who are you going with? Kanan or Mari?”

“Both.”

“Of course. For all I know, you three would win. With Kanan’s popularity and all.”

“Well, as long as you enoy it, that’s all that matter.”

“Yeah. Welp, should we head back?”

“Yes, here.” Dia gets up and offer Yoshiko her hand. 

“Thanks”

Dia and Yoshiko headed back to campus. Mari was the first to greet the two. After some teasing about their date Mari took Dia so they could spend some time together. Yoshiko went back to the dorm to find Riko sleeping on the couch. She had a soft smile and looked peaceful. Yoshiko went up to Riko and gave a light kiss on her cheek and fixed her blanket. Then, Yoshiko sat on the sofa next to the couch and watched over Riko, occasionally playing with her hair.

“mmm..mm..huuuah…Yocchan?’

“Did you sleep well?”

“I didn’t think I’d end up taking a nap.”

“Told you naps are great.”

“Wait, you have scratches on you!”

“I just trained with Dia, its nothing to worry about.”

“Still, are you in any shape to fight?”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“Let me get the med kit.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Okay, don’t come crying to me when you feel pain.”

“Anything happened when I was gone?”

“Not really, Ruby and Hanamaru came to visit for a bit. Other than that I was just playing the piano or reading.”

“Sounds like your kind of relaxation.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Care to help practice racing with me?”

“Sure.”

“Good, I want to participate so I need to improve.”

“Hmmm, guess I’ll see if I can participate too.”

“Let’s go tell Yazawa-sensei to consider us for the event.”

“Or I can just take a nap.”

“Yocchan.”

“Fiiiine, let’s go find Nico-sensei.”


	33. Witch's Race

**Guilty Kiss:**

“I trust you three will do your parts in winning.”

“Of course Yazawa-sensei, we’ll do our best.”

“You should really trust us Nico-sensei, our abilities are no joke.”

“Si~, we’ll win.”

“Good, it’s Kanan that I’m most worried about. You hear that Mari, you better not screw up.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ll get Nozomi on you…..wait, that might not be a good idea.”

**Cyaron:**

“Okay! This is what we’re made for. Leave these slowpokes in your dust nyaa!”

“R-roger Hoshizora-sensei.”

“Relax Ruby-chan. We’ve been practicing so you’ll do fine.”

“Yousoro~, I get to beat Kanan again.”

“That’s right nyaa! But I’d prefer if you all get leads so You-chan can finish it without problems.”

“I-I’ll do my Rubesty and get a lead.”

**Azalea:**

“Okay girls, are you all ready?”

“Yes Minami-sensei, we’ll win this for sure.”

“Hehe, trust me as I’m the captain of the quidditch team.”

“But you lost to You-chan last time, zura.”

“Argh, don’t remind me.”

“You got overconfident Kanan, I’ll take away your snacks if you let that happen again.”

“Please no, I need those after practice.”

“That’s alright Dia-chan, I trust Kanan-chan won’t let that happen again. Right Kanan-chan, it--won’t--happen--again--hm?”

“U-understood Minami-sensei. I-I won’t let it happen again ma’am.”

 

The Witch’s Race arrived and housemistresses were giving a usual pep talk to their representatives. For the first part of the race was a 3 person relay. A team consisting of three racers will race on a track while holding onto rings. They must pass on the ring to the next racer and then to the third and final racer. The ring must pass the finish line with the participant in order to count as a finish. There are faculty positioned across the race track to ensure the racers don’t cheat.

The order for the Guilty Kiss was Riko, Yoshiko, and then Mari. For Cyaron was Ruby, Chika, and then You. For Azalea was Hanamaru, Dia, and then Kanan. The first part of the race will start at the school’s courtyard and then they’ll go through the northern woods before passing off to the second racers. The second part will be near the cliff at the north point of the island and they’ll make their ways over the ocean, following the light flares and navigating some obstacles. Finally, the last part of the race will be more racing over the ocean before making their way inland and back to the courtyard.

Riko, Ruby, Hanamaru got to their places at the starting line. The others flew to their spots on the course. Eli walked up to the line and waited for the signal that everyone was in place. When the signal arrived Eli began the countdown for the race to start.

“On you marks. Get set. Go!”

And they’re off. The three girls hopped onto their brooms and took off. Ruby took an early lead as they flew through the school campus. Riko and Hanamaru close behind. They took a left turn towards the gardens. Once at the garden they turned right and flew under archways. Nearing the back of the school, earth rings were formed for the racers to fly through. Clearing the rings, now its an open field as the three were made their way to the northern woods.

Riko leaned forward to build up more speed to catch up to Ruby. A rumbling could be heard as walls of earth raised from the ground forcing them to go left or right. Riko slowed down to prevent herself form having to make very sharp turns from the wave of walls. Ruby took the right along with Hanamaru while Riko went left. They converged pass the wall and and went through the opening between two walls. A lower wall formed making them have to raise their elevation then lower it again as a block of rock was floating above them.

Ruby looked behind her for a brief second to see where Riko and Hanamaru were. After she did, she picked up her speed as they entered the woods. The three swerved left and right dodging trees as they appeared. Soon a clearance and a path could be seen and they flew using the path as a guide. A tight right came forcing the three to make a sharp turn. Ruby began her turn early to prevent herself from being carried too far off the path. Then a few seconds later another sharp turn came, but this time to the left. What caught Ruby off guard was that a turn followed soon after the left and she couldn’t turn in time, resulting in her bumping into a tree and losing her speed. Riko flew pass followed by Hanamaru.

Soon roots took form forcing them to again raise their elevation. Then they had to go under then over then under as roots formed. Cleared of the roots, they made it out of the woods and had a straight line shot towards the cliffs where the second racers were waiting. The three girls leaned forward and increased their speed. Once they arrived to the checkpoint, they passed the rings over to the next racers as they took off.

Yoshiko had a slight lead, followed by Dia and Chika close behind. They flew over the ocean following the flares. Walls of water erupted from the ground before freezing creating their course. Yoshiko followed the straight path before Dia and Chika pulled up next to her. The three jockeyed for position each one taking a momentary lead before losing it to another. A right turn approached and Yoshiko took a wider turn from being on the far side as Dia took the sharper turn almost seamlessly.

Ice pillars erupted splitting the track into two, forming a criss cross pattern. Dia took the right while Yoshiko and Chika took the left. They followed the trails and at the second intersection, Yoshiko and Dia almost hit each other, allowing Chika to take a lead. The path would eventually straighten out. Dia and Yoshiko picked up speed to catch up. Soon a dip could be seen as the course begins to go underwater and Chika dived down with Yoshiko and Dia following.

The race continued as Chika takes the turn first. Yoshiko and Dia didn’t care about the speed they were going at as they were taking the turn. They turned and used their momentum as they flew onto the wall, to the ceiling, and eventually back down the other side of the wall. This happened again with a nother turn as they looped around the walls and ceiling eventually catching up to the surprised Chika.

A spiral approached going upwards. The three entered the spiral as it led them up above the water and high into the sky. As they came out of the spiral they dived down seeing the water ring down below that they must pass through. They dived downward at blazing blazing speeds. Soon, they pulled up to prevent themselves from crashing into the water and flew through the water ring. Up ahead, they saw the anchor legs for their teams and put their hands out ready to pass the ring off.

With the rings passed off, Kanan, You, and Mari began the last leg of the race in that order. A whole bunch of water rings formed as thye had to pass through them. Some were spaced out while others were real close making the racers have to make tight turns. Kanan stayed wide on each ring pass through to make her turns more smoothly resulting in her getting the lead.

After clearing the rings water pillars erupted as they scramble about dodging them. Steadily Mari made up ground from the back, waiting for her moment to fly pass Kanan and You. Being behind the other two allowed Mari to have time to adjust as opposed to being in front and reacting to the pillars. The move worked out as she caught up once they cleared the pillars.

The docks came into view. Water arches formed making the racers fly close to the water as they have to go under them. The arches lead all the way to the docks and they had to pull up near the end to avoid crashing. It’s now a path towards school as earth walls formed with gaps at random spots for the racers to pass through. Near the entrance to the school a wall was erected with no gaps, followed by two more forming a trail to the right. They followed the trail that lead to a circular area with a pillar in the middle. The signal from a faculty member indicated they must make six rotations around the pillar before exiting.

Kanan had belief in her skills as she took the tightest rotation to shorten her time. You gave herself some room but it could still be considered a tight rotation for regular people. Mari followed in with You. They drifted around the room making sure to keep their eyes focused, to avoid losing their balance from drifting in circles so fast. Kanan finished first, but her speed caused her to deviate from a straight line to the exit a bit coming out of the drift. This allowed You and Mari who finished right after to pull ahead by a slim margin.

The path lead out and then a right turn before they went pass the school gate. They made their way to the arena where the rest of the team awaits them. In the arena, it’s one lap around to end the race. It was close as the three were neck and neck with one another. The first corner went well. The second corner was the same. As the final two corners approach, You sped up taking the lead. Pass the third corner, she held her lead. On the fourth corner, she took the near post. Mari and Kanan put one last burst of speed as they took a long turn, maintaining their momentum and pulling even with You. The three now had a straight shot to the finish.

Kanan took a peek over then looked forward as she slightly lowered her altitude. Using the lower resistance from a slightly lower altitude and You and Mari to both sides, Kanan took a slight lead and carried it to the finish. You would be 2nd and Mari 3rd. Kanan looked over and smiled at You as this was revenge for the race You beat her in earlier in the year. At the individual portions, the results were a mix with each house claiming 1st in at least one individual race. The cup standings now have a tie for 1st with Guilty Kiss and Cyaron.

“Haha, I guess I’m the better racer.”

“No you’re not. I beat you before.”

“Only beause I let my guard down. I didn’t think you’d make up the distance the last time.”

“Kanan had a lecture from Minami-sensei when she lost her sizable lead that time.” Dia said.

“And I’m not letting that happen again.”

“That was fun. We should compete in the team racing again.”

“Maybe, Chika-san. But I think with our placing in some of the individual races, Kanan might be moved to that.”

“I was for sure you and Yoshiko-chan would fall when ya’ll were upside down.”

“Hmph, its nothing when you understand how to use your center of gravity with the momentum from the turn to ride along the wall and ceiling my little demon.”

“I’ll try that next time.”

“Going first wasn’t that bad. Ruby-chan did really good.” Riko said.

“Yeah. It was like she was completely different, zura.”

“It was nothing special really. I just had a lot of practice with You-chan.”

“Hey girls~, let’s go eat at this restaurant I made reservations at.”

“Is a reservation really necessary?”

“Of course~, we’ll have an awesome view and the service will be fantastic. Ohara approved.”

“Alright then, let’s go eat!”

 

**Elsewhere on an island:**

“Yes, I’m getting ready.”

“No, I’m not sleeping and wasting time.”

“It takes time for them to wake up, especially since it was you who put them to sleep.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.”

“Yes yes, I know it won’t be easy.”

“Okay, if we’re done then I’ll get back to preparations. Bye……Tch, a short nap won’t hurt anyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a special guest appearance next chapter.


	34. Valentine's Ball

“I see you’ve put in a lot of work Honoka.”

“Of course Tsubasa. Food is my pride and for the ball, I have to make sure everything is good.”

“If only you put this much care in when we go out.”

“I get nervous on our dates.”

“I know. You got something on your lip.”

“I do? Whe….mmmmm!”

“There.”

“H-hey, n-not in front of my cooks.”

“Not like it matters. Let’s enjoy ourselves at the ball shall we? I hope you’re ready for our dance.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Today was the day of the Valentine’s Ball. It’s a day where classes are canceled so the staff could get ready and for the students to get any last minute preparations done. It’s a festive time with music, food, dancing, and of course spending time with friends or that someone special. It could also spell the beginning of a relationship. As for the traditional valentines’ chocolate giving, that was handled the day before the ball. Yoshiko and Riko made chocolates for each other, but it turned into something more sensual when they began putting chocolate onto each other. The same could be said when Mari showed up to Kanan's and Dia's wearing a ribbon dress. Chika and You had a more reserved time together and the same with Hanamaru and Ruby.

The school was filled with everyone moving from place to place making sure they have everything for the ball. Some students were rushing to back from Takama with their last minute shopping. Others were making plans for what they would do after the ball. There were some that weren't going and planned on just hanging out somewhere together. No matter where you look, the students were all doing something. Ruby was in Dia’s room as they got prepared together. Kanan helped Hanamaru get ready for the evening. Chika and Yo got ready together and as did Riko and Yoshiko. Mari got dressed on her own with the help of some of her maids from home.

Aqours met up together at the court yard. Yoshiko didn’t want to wear a black dress to the occasion, thinking her tux from the night of her confession would be better. Riko was insistent that Yoshiko wore the dress as it would match her light pink short cut dress with the pattern in reverse. Kanan showed up in a tux with a blue-green dress shirt. She was accompanied by Dia in a red latin style dress on one side and Mari in a light purple lace dress on the other. Hanamru wore a light yellow dress with Ruby wearing a pink and white hi-lo dress. You wore a light blue ballroom skirt with Chika wearing a white one.

They entered what was the dining hall, transformed into a spacious room for the ball. The side walls leading to the smaller dining rooms were lowered to create more space. The dance area was in the middle of the room with tables to the side. Each side had a long table holding the food and drinks. There were flower arrangements at the tables. The ceiling was dark with small flares of light spread across it, making it look like a night sky. The orchestra plays on the stage in the back center of the room. There were drapes hanging on the walls and some connecting from the wall to the ceiling.

Aquors arrived and the place had a good number of students there already with more still to arrive. They looked around at the room before searching for a table to sit at. Before they realized it Hanamaru disappeared, but they found her at the food table looking at the food with Honoka there with her. Honoka was looking proud at the food served while Hanamaru was getting her plate filled with food. Ruby hurried over and pulled Hanamaru away and brought her to the table they’re sitting at.

“Kousaka-sensei’s cooking is so good, zura.”

“That’s how you enter the ballroom Zuramaru, straight to the food?”

“What else is there to do, zura?”

“Socialize, they’re still bringing out the food, so its not time to eat yet.” Riko stated.

“It’s better to eat now, zura.”

“Well well, if it isn’t Aqours. Pleasure to see you all again and the Kurosawa’s too.”

“Hmm? Sarah-san?”

“And Leah-chan?”

“Good evening everyone.”

“What are you two doing here?” Dia asked.

“We’re guests for tonight. The headmistress asked if we would perform a song or two for the ball.”

“You came here just to sing a song for our Valentine’s Ball?”

“Well, we’re on a short break from our idol life and we just happen to be in the area.”

“Yeah, don’t think its because we want to see you or anything.”

“Could you say that and not stand behind your sister?”

“SHINY~. You two look stunning tonight.”

“Thank you. We need to speak to the conductor and see when we’re singing, I hope to see you all again tonight.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Aqours continued to talk as the rest of the students and faculty arrives. Soon, Tsubasa walked in with Anju and Erena. She called for everyone’s attention as she spoke about the progress of the current school year, update on the House Cup standings, and what she expects for the rest of the year. Once she was done, she announced the official start of the ball. The orchestra began to play and the students began to mingle whether at the sitting area, the dance floor, or at the food line.

“Oooooo, I hope I don’t trip this year.”

“Just relax Honoka-chan. Tsubasa-chan doesn’t care if you’re clumsy in ballroom dance.”

“But, people were looking at me Kotori-chan.”

“Hey, it would take you burning down the school for her to even consider you embarrassing.”

“You really think that Nico-chan?”

“Trust me, we’ve seen some crazier things happen then tripping at the ball in front of the school body.”

“Thanks you two, I guess I should go and ask her for a dance now. Come on, I am a rock.”

“She’s gonna trip again.”

“Yep. Shall we go then?”

“After you.”

Some guilty kiss students tried to sneak some alcohol into the drinks. Umi caught them and confiscated the alcohol. Maki came out and nudged Umi a bit as she was putting away the alcohol.

“Why don’t you pour some of that into our glasses?”

“It’s against the rules Maki. We need this to be a wholesome ball. Not some shameless display of hormones.”

“Hey you two, what’s up?” Eli asked.

“Ah, is Umichi going to get into the mood with some drinks?”

“Speaking of shameless.”

“Why do you two have lipstick over your lips like that? And your hair is a bit messy.”

“Oh uh, we hurried over because we thought we were going to be late.”

“Eli, look at me when you say that.”

“We had a pregame warmup.”

“Shameless!”

“Let’s just go Umi, before you lose it. You two should go to the bathrrom and clean yourselves up a bit.”

“Pregame in the bathroom!”

“Not so loud Nozomi.”

“S-H-A-M-E-L-E-S-S, you two are shameless!”

Maki gave Umi a quick kiss before she pulled the stunned Umi to the dance floor. Umi quickly regained her composure and led the dance as her bushido warrior spirit kicked in. Rin could be seen pushing Hanayo out as she fought back from trying to dance.

“Come on Kayo-chin. We gotta dance nyaa.”

“I-I can’t Rin-chan.”

“We do this every year.”

“But I need my bowl of rice.”

“It’ll taste even better once we dance a bit nyaa.”

Honoka approached Tsubasa as confident as she can be, suave like as she gave Tsubasa some looks. Then she pulled out a rose made of bread. Pretty impressive to be able to make something like that. Tsubasa giggled and took Honoka’s hand. She told Erena and Anju to go enjoy the evening together and they excused themselves.

Aqours made their way onto the dance floor except for Hanamaru and Ruby. The first few songs were slow, allowing everyone to settle in. Waltzing is the way to go as everyone held their partners close moving with the rythym and still holding conversations.

“Steady now Yocchan.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Should I lead when the dance changes?”

“As the master, I lead.”

“You might make us bump into someone, I lead.”

“No, me.”

Mari can’t help but snicker hearing the couple argue. Dia and Kanan only shook their heads, fearing that the two would end up embarrassing themselves. Is it hard for Kanan to dance with both Dia and Mari? Sure. But they eventually came up with ways to make the dancing styles fit three people. Alternating and Kanan leading the two. At first, people weren’t sure how it was going to work, but they figured it out.

The music changed to a tango and the pace picked up. Riko took lead and Yoshiko had no choice but to follow not wanting to be off beat. They worked their way from place to place, Riko made sure not to make too big a move to keep with the flow. Then Riko dipped Yoshiko. She held Yoshiko in that position as they locked eyes and giving each other a warm smile.

When they returned, Yoshiko swapped hand positions and began to lead herself. Their dance started to open up as they aren’t just holding onto each other with both hands. They pulled away holding on to each other with one hand, then Yoshiko spun Riko back into her. Then Yoshiko dipped Riko but their faces were much closer than the previous. Yoshiko went in for a kiss but saw some eyes on her as she pulled back and continued the dance.

Sarah and Leah were dancing together. Sarah led and moved across the floor to a certain older sister. She bumped into Dia and smirked.

“Is your sister not joining? Shall we show you how it’s done?” Dia became a bit agitated.

“Ruby!” Dia called Ruby and she joined in.

The two sister pairs danced with the older sisters staring at each other. They danced around each other performing some twists, turns, spins, etc. Sarah tapped Leah on the hip and Leah got ready. Sarah lifted Leah up into the air and spun around twice before putting Leah down. A smug look was seen as they looked over at the Kurosawas.

“Ruby, I’m throwing you up in the air.”

“What?”

“Spin and I’ll catch you.”

“Wait, I don’t think…”

“Here we go!”

“Pigii!”

Dia lifted Ruby by the waist and tossed her in the air. Ruby began to spin and leaned to make herself catchable. Dia caught her and popped her back up on her feet and they got back to the dance. At this point, a lot of the student body was watching the sister pairs dance as if they were battling. Elegant and grace could be seen from both, their bonds driving them instead of words.

The transition to quickstep happened and the pace picked up even more. The Kazunos being idols, adapted fine to the pacing and moved in perfect sync to the beat and one another. They shuffled to the side, holding each other with one hand, letting go, and spinning before they held each others hand again. Then Leah jumps up and Sarah catches her, swings Leah to the left, then the right.

The Kurosawa’s pace didn’t match that of the Kazuno’s. Dia was doing fine but Ruby was struggling a bit. Dia slowed the pace to let Ruby catch up. After a while of configuring their dance, Dia and Ruby got the timing and rythym down. Dia lifted one of Ruby’s legs to her side and leg dragged Ruby a few feet. Then they would break apart and do a solo dance, depicting separation then togetherness, before Ruby jumped back into Dia’s arms. Unfortunately they would lose the supposed battle as the Kazunos maintained their form and pace.

“Not bad. I heard about you doing traditional dances but this was something else.”

“You’re both…. good”

“Thank you, it’s a bit of an honor for idols to recognize us in dancing.”

“Unfortunately we can’t continue our dance as it’s our turn to go sing, we’ll catch you two later.”

“Goodbye.”

“Bye Leah-chan and Sarah-chan. I had fun.”

Saint Snow went to the orchestra and prepared to sing. Ruby and Dia sat down for rest. Hanamaru was ready and asked Ruby to dance once she’s done resting. Saint Snow began their song. Chika got excited and broke off from her dance with You and started to just freestyle it. You sighed and watched for a bit before she found a way to match it. Saint Snow would sing three songs. One fast paced song, and two slower ones. When they were done, they went to a table to rest and got refreshments. The orchestra began playing waltz music again.

The ball came nearing its end, the rythym has slowed down to a more intimate tune. Everyone had a good time and some were beginning to leave early for other plans. Yoshiko and Riko were in each others embrace as they swayed side to side. Yoshiko rested her head on Riko’s shoulder while Riko kissed the top of her head. Yoshiko returned the kiss by kissing her neck. She moved her way up from the neck to the cheek. Then they looked into each others eyes admiring the beauty of one another, loss in each others gaze, before they shared a long deep kiss.

This seemed to have an affect as other couples kissed each other. Umi was about to explode from the amount of shamelessness, but Maki had other plans as she pushed Umi into a chair and kissed her. Hanamaru and Ruby were red from the action happening around them. Hanamaru pulled Ruby away from the dance floor and they sat down at a table, snuggled close together, holding each others hands. Chika and You were sitting against the wall, tired from all the dancing they did. Out of the group, they were the ones who didn’t really take a break. The two looked and smiled at one another, before they slowly got close and leaned in for a kiss. Outside, Dia, Kanan, and Mari were enjoying the moonlight together.

“Did you two have fun?”

“Of course~! Being here with the two people most important to me is all I can ask for.”

“I enjoyed the event.”

“Was it because of your dance with Ruby?”

“That and the fact that we danced against Saint Snow.”

“It was a good watch.”

“Yes, but I know we can beat them with some more practice. It was a bit on the fly when I called Ruby over to dance.”

“You both did magnificent considering Saint Snow is an idol group.”

“I feel more attracted to you after seeing you dance.”

“Hoh? What was I before then Kanan?”

“I mean, you were attractive before too, its just, um, you know, uh…”

“Geez Kanan, you sure are smooth.”

“Shut up! You know how when you see someone do something amazing and you feel even more in love with the person then before? That’s what I mean.”

“So you love me more now?”

“Yes.”

“What about moi?”

“I love you too. Just don’t be getting feels in when you see an opening. I was sure Sonoda-sensei was shooting daggers at you.”

“That was weak Kanan. I hope you’re better when you propose~ to me.”

“Where did that come from? We’re still in school!”

“Kanan, marriage is serious. So I have high expectations of your proposal.”

“Seriously, why do you two work so well together when you gang up on me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thats right, Saint Snow is here. And don't worry, unlike last time where they were just here for 1 chapter, I plan on having them here for the rest of the arc.  
> I felt it was an injustice to give them only one appearance and the last two arcs weren't the right time to have them show up again.
> 
> Also, this chapter feels like more talking than actual ball but with the dancing, everyone would be doing the same thing outside of their individual special dances like the tosses the sisters did. It would be kind of redundant describing one couples dance then another when its the same thing.


	35. Take Flight

A few days after the ball, Saint Snow was still around and Tsubasa made sure they were comfortable by letting them stay in a private room near where the faculty would stay. Of course there were fans and they all surrounded the two for autographs and questions. Whenever they ran into the Kurosawas, students would look with interest at what would happen between the sister pairs. Proud older sisters and cute little sisters.

Since Saint Snow was acquainted with Aqours, Tsubasa assigned Aqours to take care of Saint Snow when they’re out of class. Sarah suggested that she and Leah be allowed to attend some classes and Tsubasa allowed it, letting all the teachers know. It was interesting for the students to watch Dia and Sarah duke it out, showing their intelligence. Leah was with Ruby and even they had some competition between each other. There was a debate among the student body about which sister pair is better. It was tiring for the other members of Aqours as they had to deal with questions themselves and making sure the sisters don’t go overboard.

A strange figure arrived at the docks on a raft. Nobody was there, as all the boats were at Takama. The figure looked west for a bit before she made her approach to the school.

At lunch, Aqours and Saint Snow were eating together. Sarah was talking about their latest activites before their short vacation. Chika peppered away with questions as the others looked on in exhaustion. Umi came by and asked Saint Snow if they found everything okay. After checking up on their guests, Umi walked around the school. The students greeted Umi as she made her rounds. At the front court yard, Umi sat down on a bench and took in the fresh cool air.

As she looked around she saw a mysterious person at the front gate. Her senses told her to be weary as she walked up to the person. They stood a good distance away from each other in quiet before Umi spoke.

“Who are you and what business do you have at this school?”

“…….”

“State your name and business here please.”

“……..”

Umi continued to look on, the only thing she could see was a smile on the person’s face and based on how the cloak fit, it was a female. A shiver went down Umi’s back and she drew her wand.

“State your name and business; otherwise I’ll have to use force.”

Students looked on with concern on their faces. Eli was running down the hall as someone told her what was happening. She arrived next to Umi and asked for the situation. After hearing what Umi said, Eli drew her wand.

“We have to ask you to leave ma’am.”

“Celean”

“Excuse me?”

“The name’s Celean”

“And what is your business here?”

“This!”

The woman drew her wand and shot a blade of wind. Umi erected a water wall, blocking the attack. Eli fired a lightning blast at Celean, but she backflipped and floated in the air. Her hood came off and revealed her short dark green hair. Her eyes were like that of a bird’s. Her teeth were sharp. She hunched down as wings started to grow out from under her arm and her feet transformed into talons. Celean raised her wand up and a sonic sound came from it. Everyone covered their ears from the screeching sounds.

When Umi and Eli looked up, they saw Celean look to the west. They followed her gaze and saw a cloud of something coming their way. They focused in on the cloud and they realized it was no cloud.

“Shit, everyone get inside now!” Eli yelled as the students followed her command. Panic and screams can be heard throughout the school as everyone is now wondering what was going on.

The cloud turned out to be a big swarm of harpies coming in. Celean charged in at Umi and she rolled out of the way before firing water arrows at her. Eli created a storm cloud and launched it at Celean. She flew beneath it but the storm cloud shot out a field of lightning, shocking Celean and knocking her onto the ground. Celean got up and was about to fly again but Umi wrapped a water whip on one of her arms. Eli tried to fire another spell but a harpy tackled her.

Celean shot off a lightning bolt hitting Umi as she looked at Eli, freeing her from the whip. The swarm is now at the school and flying everywhere. Umi tapped her CO to inform the faculty.

“This is Umi, harpies are attacking the school. I repeat, harpies are attacking the school. Get all students to safety and all those that can fight, come outside to fight off the swarm.”

Eli and Umi looked at Celean as she pointed her wand at herself. A dark cloud covered Celean and she created clones of herself. Umi and Eli looked in disbelief at what just happened. Then the clones split up and ran to different parts of the school.

“Eli!”

“On it.” Eli went to the left side chasing down two clones. She rounded the corner seeing the two clones run towards some students. Eli shot off lightning bolts to keep them from reaching the students. One got hit in the leg and tripped. The other one bared her talons and jumped at the students. A ball of light hit the clone, sending it into the side of an archway.

“Nozomi!”

“Hey Elichi. You all get to safety.”

“Yes ma’am”

“Glad you’re here. It’s a pain in the ass dealing with this many enemies.”

“Yeah, we still have a swarm of harpies to deal with and it looks like these two are ready for more.” The two clones got up and drew out their wands ready for a fight. Eli and Nozomi readied their spells as a circle of light and a circle of lightning formed in front of them.

Harpies chased after students that were outside. They flew all over the school swooping down and grabbing whoever they can or stiking down whoever they can. Some of the students began to fight back, but the sheer numbers and that they’re airborne continued to cause problem. The clones began attacking different parts of the school also as the other teachers begin to engage. One harpy flew by the houses of Guilty Kiss but was struck down by an energy spike.

“Who do these bitches think they are, interrupting the great Nico’s beauty nap?”

“Yazawa-sensei, whats the plan?”

“Hmmm, all students who can’t fight need to get to safety. Those that can should help protect them as they evacuate or should be out here fighting. You two will come with me.”

“Yes ma’am” Nico commanded all those near her area to their spots before she began her walk to the east gardens. As she was walking a clone flew at Nico, but she just stared at it unimpressed. Before Nico could attack, a boulder smashed the clone into a shed.

“Honoka-chan, you’re late.”

“I’m sorry Nico-chan; I had to get my cooks to safety.”

“You two go and help get the students inside. Let’s go Honoka.” A group of harpies descended in front of them and the clone got up. Nico smacked her lips at the nuisance and her and Honoka entered into battle.

Umi fought against Celean at the front court yard. Celean flew around, dodging Umi’s attacks. Umi shot a giant water arrow into the air that dispersed into smaller arrows, raining down on a larger area. It hit some of the harpies, but Celean was able to dodge the storm of arrows. Umi locked her eyes onto Celean and chanted. When she was done, she shot out a homing arrow. Celean flew over and around it at first, but was surprised when the arrow turned around and followed her. A harpy flew up and took the arrow protecting Celean. Umi cursed and called for help.

“Kotori, Rin, go!”

“Roger Umi-chan!”

“Here we go nyaa!”

Kotori and Rin took to the air. Kotori on a bird made of wind and Rin on her broom. The two flew around above the school, shooting down any harpy they can hit. The harpies swarmed and chased Kotori. She maneuvered around the air, making tight turns and spins. Rin flew by Kotori with a swarm of her own and the two swarms slammed into each other. Rin and Kotori took the opening and fired off a storm of wind blades at the harpies, killing a number of them.

Some clones got into the school building and fought against the faculty and students. Maki ran out and shot fireballs at one. The clone created a gust of wind and reflected the attack right back. Hanayo created a shield of roots to block. Maki looked over at Hanayo who gave her a nod and created roots from the ground snaring the clones. Maki fired of fireballs and dispatched the clones. A clone jumped down from a window and pinned Hanayo. Maki couldn’t attack as the clone aimed her wand at Hanayo. Maki stood firm, not showing any weakness. As the clone was ready to strike, a root pierced the clone in the chest and tossed it aside. Hanayo stood up and brushed off some dirt.

“All of you stay on your guard. Those things can fly in through the windows.”

“Hanayo-chan, I’m going to the front to help Umi.”

“Right, I’ll keep guard inside the school.

At the headmistress’s office, Tsubasa was getting the report from Erena and Anju. She looked out her window and saw a harpy get smashed into the wall by Rin. Looking down, she can see Eli and Nozomi fighting off harpies and clones.

“Erena, Anju.”

“Yes Tsubasa”

“Go, defend this school. Make sure whoever this person is, understand we won’t be beaten.”

“Of course!” Erena and Anju left. A few moments pass and Tsubasa felt a presence near her. She looked around and opened the back window. Standing on a support beam, another cloaked woman stood.

“Hello Headmistress.”

“What do you want?”

“Just want to say hello, I do hope Celean and her friends aren’t causing problems.”

“No worries, they’ll be dealt with.”

“We’ll see.”

The woman shot a bolt at Tsubasa who watched the shot miss her. She noticed a spider on the wall turned into stone. Looking back, the woman disappeared. Tsubasa closed the window and began a chant. She walked out of her office and continued downstairs and through the halls until she reached the main corridor where Hanayo was.

“Tsubasa-chan!”

Tsubasa finished her chant and casts a barrier spell. The school building is now blocked off by a barrier preventing any enemies from getting in.

“Whats the situation?”

“Currently we’re fighting off harpies and clones of the woman named Celean. We have faculty and students fighting. Some are injured and are being moved to safety for medical attention. Having to watch out for the clones doesn’t help as there are a large number of harpies.”

“Thank you, I’ll go to the other buildings to create barriers. Get out there and protect our school.”

“Yes!”

In the air, Kotori and Rin continued their battle against the harpies. Rin dropped from her broom and used it as a decoy, blasting harpies with bolts and wind blades, before her broom caught her. Kotori created a wind tornado and it swallowed a group of harpies, slicing them up. Bodies continue to drop out of the air as they fought. Then a much bigger harpy appeared and broke through Kotori’s wind bird. She fell from the sky before Anju arrived and caught her.

“Anju-chan!”

“Hey there Rin-chan. Kotori-chan, here’s your broom.”

“Thanks.”

“Now let’s eliminate the pests shall we.”

Umi and Maki shot bolt after bolt at the harpies flying around them. The two stood back to back as it seems it would never end. Celean came through from the pack and struck Maki in the arm. Umi covered maki as she shot a giant water arrow, killing a pack of harpies. As Umi checked on Maki’s wound, Maki fired a blast of fire behind Umi, burning a couple more harpies. A large harpy landed destroying a few tables.

“Just what we need, more flying bitches.”

“Heh, at least this one is a bigger target for us to hit.” A giant spear of ice impaled the larger harpy from behind and it fell to the ground. Then another spear came down on it, killing it.

“Erena-chan?”

“Hello. It was indeed a bigger target Sonoda-chan”

“I guess that means Tsubasa is in action.”

“She’s getting the barriers up in the buildings.”

“Good, now we can fight without having to worry about them getting inside the buildings.”

“Yes, now where is this Celean, we need to dispatch of her this instant.” The three looked and saw Celean leave, but several clones came out and a few harpies descended, preventing them from chasing.

Aqours and Saint Snow were in the back court yard fighting off the harpies. Saint Snow along with Yoshiko shot a hailstorm of ice bolts and blasts at the harpies. Dia and Ruby burned down any harpy that came close. Hanamaru created circles of light shooting lasers into the pack. A harpy came swooping down at Chika but she crushed it with “Titan Hammer”. Kanan and You fired water bullets at a pack attacking together. Riko created her Symphony and a storm of wind blades struck down their enemies. A harpy came from behind of Riko but was shot with a lightning blast from Mari.

While they were busy, Celean flew in, and grabbed Yoshiko’s head with her talons, smashing Yoshiko into the ground. She squeezed down, as Yoshiko tried to break free. “Crescendo” came and knocked Celean off of Yoshiko.

“Yocchan! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“You’re bleeding!”

“It’s just a bit.”

Some blood was dripping down Yoshiko’s head. Celean flew down and stared at Yoshiko as Riko tried to stop the bleeding. The rest of Aqours and Saint Snow ran up to confront Celean.

“You!” She said pointing at Yoshiko

“Me?”

“You are a strange one.”

“What?”

Celean let out a loud screech causing the girls to cover their ears. A large harpy swooped in while they were distracted and grabbed Leah. It then flew off westward along with Celean. Sarah screamed out Leah’s name as she gets carried away. Sarah began to run after them. Aqours ran back to the building and got their brooms and took off after Sarah. Sarah meanwhile, created an ice bird and rode on top of it. Aqours soon caught up as they went after Celean to save Leah.


	36. Chase Celean

_‘My first job is big sister. And I take that very seriously._

_-Venus Williams_

 

The battle against the harpy swarm continued at school. The faculty and students fended off as much as they could. It appeared that the number of harpies was decreasing but a new development came up. Nico reported in that some of the harpies were being revived. They became paler and are more agressive then before. At first, this shocked the teachers, but once they saw it they buckled down and ramped up the defense of the school. Hanayo reported that she saw some of Celean’s clone cast some revival spell on the harpies but not themselves. The conclusion was that the clones can’t be revived and they are the top priority targets. It became a clone hunt as they searched for the clones. Nozomi joined Kotori, Rin, and Anju in the air as they fought off the harpies in the air, while Umi, Maki, Eli, Nico, Hanayo, Honoka, and Erena searched on the ground for the clones.

Aqours and Sarah chased Celean across the ocean. While they chased, some harpies showed up to slow them down. They split up and took on a few harpies each. Dodging the charges and shooting them down, it wasn’t too much of a problem. Then a dark tornado came at them. Some of the girls got caught by the force of the pull and were getting pulled into the tornado. They used all their strength into flying out. Riko, Hanamaru, and Mari combined their attacks and fired a massive cannon of light at the base of the tornado and dispelled it. Now free, they followed Celean to an isolated island in the ocean.

Arriving at the island, the girls tried to locate Leah. What was evident was flying around would not be an option as harpies are flying around. They left their brooms on at the landing spot and made their way on foot. The island was covered with trees, some open areas, and a raised crater on the far end.

Sarah was up front leading the party as they walked through the jungle like island. Screeches can be heard from above and they made sure to stay hidden beneath the trees. They approached an open area and began to walk around it. Then a clone dropped down from a tree catching their eyes.

“Where’s my sister?”

“If you want her then come get her.”

“I will.”

“Sarah, wait!”

Sarah rushed into the open to confront the clone. She raised her wand to attack but was interrupted by a harpy landing in top of her. It screeched at Sarah before getting hit by fire bolts from Dia and Ruby. The harpy tried to fly off but was crushed into a tree by a fist of earth from Chika. Kanan picked Sarah up and asked if she was alright. After she said she was fine, they looked up to see the clone was now three and ran in different directions.

“Dammit.”

“We need to get back to cover.” They all moved into cover and thought up of a plan.

“Okay, Sarah, Ruby and I will take the one who ran north.”

“Then Rikocchi, Yoshikocchi, and I will go east.”

“That leaves Chika, You, Hanamaru, and I to go west.”

“Good, once you locate Leah, give us a call on the CO and we’ll converge on your location.”

Everyone split up into their groups and followed after the clones. Guilty Kiss made their way eastward passing tree after tree. Mari was able to see someone up ahead and signaled Yoshiko and Riko. Once they got close enough, they can confirm it is a Celean clone. Mari went ahead and fired a lightning blast to which the clone dodged. Yoshiko shot a dark lightning blast. The clone erected a pillar of earth to block the attack. The pillar would eventually be destroyed and the clone was no where to be seen.

The ground begun to shake suddenly and an area in front of them began to rise up. After the dust cleared, a golem stood before them with the clone right behind it. The golem was about about twice Mari’s height. It looked down and charged at Guilty Kiss, swinging its arms around. The girls got out of the way as the golem bulldozed some trees in its path. Turning around, the golem grabbed a tree and threw it. Yoshiko and Riko ducked under the tree and attacked the golem while Mari went after the clone.

Yoshiko fired a blast of ice at its legs, locking it in place. Riko summoned fists of light and pounded the golem as it tries to break free. Soon it was knocked onto the ground from a combined lightning and wind blast. A harpy appeared and flew past Riko and Yoshiko as they’re now in an exposed area created by the golem’s charge. The harpy came back, nosediving straight at Riko. Riko used her “Crescendo”. Just as she used it a second harpy appeared and attacked her from behind. Yoshiko got in the way and shot a blast of ice, freezing the harpy as it drops to the ground. The golem got back on its feet and charged back in. It swung its arm at the two. Yoshiko went to the left but a sudden blade of wind flew in front of her, stopping her movement. It was enough as the golem hits Yoshiko, sending her into a tree.

Riko ran up to Yoshiko in worry as she knelt down to check on her. Yoshiko was hurting from the impact, clutching her ribs. The golem approached, ready for another strike. Riko turned around and shot a beam of light at the golem. The golem’s approach was slowed down, but it still made it way towards Riko and Yoshiko. Riko amped up the power as the beam got larger, slowing the golem down even more. Yoshiko moved Riko over a bit and charged her next attack. Then she fired off a beam of dark energy, combining it with Riko’s beam of light. The two attacks pushed the golem back. Cracking can be heard before the upper half of the golem was blasted off. The rest of its body crumbled to the ground.

The clone watched from afar as her surprise attack didn’t work on the two girls. Suddenly a blast of lightning came whizzing by her head. Turning around, she saw Mari with acharged up attack running at ther. She went to the right but was stopped when a lightning orb dropped down from the tree. She turned around to get hit by Mari’s “Thunder Rush”. The multiple impact attack sends her into the lightning orb and it electrocutes her. The clone tried to get up, feeling the after effects of the attack. She looked up to see Mari’s wand aimed at her and then Mari fires off a lightning blast killing her.

“Are you two okay?” Mari asked as she rushed over.

“Yeah, I’m good. But Yocchan has some rib problems. I healed it as best as I could.”

“I’m still able to fight.”

“Yoshikocchi, your left eye.”

“Hm?”

“She’s right Yocchan. Your left eye is dark blue.”

“Must’ve been from that heavy blast of dark energy I used.”

“Will you…”

“I’m fine. I won’t lose it like before.”

Meanwhile, Kanan, You, Hanamaru, and Chika are having a fight of their own. The area they are fighting in has clearings from the trss so harpies are able to fight them. Three harpies came down on Chika and Hanamaru. Chika enshelled the two of them in earth. The harpies clawed away at the shell of earth. Suddenly, the shell began to shake and three beams of light broke through the shell hitting the harpies. Pieces of earth remained floating in the air before Chika slammed them onto the downed harpies.

Kanan and You fired barrages of water bolts at the Celean clone. The clone raised a pillar of wind blowing the water bolts away. Then it shot blades of wind at them. You erected a wall of water in front to block. Kanan followed by using the water wall to fire off water bombs. The clone ran to the left as the bombs miss her. A water spear was thrown her way and she stopped just missing the spear. The clone turned and saw You run up with her “Hydro Turrent”. The clone gets sent into a tree. Kanan then used “Heavy Geyser” smashing the clone through a few trees. Before the clone could get up again, You impale it with another water spear.

A harpy flew at You’s direction, but was smashed with an earth hammer from Chika. Hanamru summoned circles of light and fired away at the remaining harpies. One by one they get hit and tumble to the ground where Chika would finish them off. One of the larger harpies landed on the ground and screeched in anger. It raised its wings up and flapped them forward sending gusts of wind blades towards Chika and Hanamaru. Chika quickly raised an earth shield in front of them to block. Hanamaru began her chant and after a while used “Onikuma Rush”. The harpy began to fly away but Chika used “Grasping Roots” keeping it grounded. The bear of light crashed into the harpy as its front gets burned. Chika sent a fist of earth and the combined forces of the two attacks sends it into the ocean. The four girls regrouped and continued their way deeper inland.

Sarah, Dia, and Ruby ran after the third Celean clone. Sarah twirled her wand in a circle before a swirling ice spike was shot forward. The clone turned and raised a wind wall. The ice spike hits it but doesn’t break. Instead, the swirling of the ice spike drills through the wall and grazes the clone in the arm. Ruby and Dia shot fireballs at it. The clone got out of the way, using the trees as a shield. Then it went from tree to tree, firing wind blades and lightning bolts at the three girls. Sarah got a read on the direction the clone was headed and swung her wand upward. Spikes of ice rose up from the ground in a straight line. It cuts off the clone, keeping it from moving to the right. Two phoenixes came from the other side hitting the clone as it has no where to go. Sarah, Dia, and Ruby checked and confirmed the clone was defeated.

In the raised crater at the far end of the island, Leah gets tackled by a Celean and rolls on the ground. She gets up to fire a blast of ice. She gets disrupted by a harpy then another comes down and razes her back. Leah created a shell of ice around her. She can hear pounding sounds as the harpies attack the shell. Leah collapses the shell momentarily before it bursts and spikes shot in every direction. The harpies scatter as some gets pierced.

Leah made a run for it. A harpy flew from in front of her; Leah jumps over it and shoots a spike through its head. The next one came and Leah slides under, shooting a blast of ice sending the harpy tumbling forward covered in frost. Celean comes towards her, and Leah spins her wand before shooting a star of ice at Celean. Celean dodges and continues her approach before the star turned around a came back. Celean sensing it, manages to dodge but her left arm gets hit a bit. She lands on the ground and shakes of the ice.

Leah continues her run as two more descend on her. Leah erects an ice pillar and the harpies bump into it. Leah taps her wand on the pillar and spikes came from the pillar, impaling the two harpies. Before Leah could begin running again, Celean swoops down and crushes Leah between her talons and the ice pillar. Leah raised her wand but it gets slapped away by Celean. Celean kicks Leah to the side. She begins to crawl before Celean slams her head to the ground with her hand. Celean picks Leah up, throws her up and hits her with a wind blade, sending her across the field.

The ten girls ran into each other as they progressed to the bottom of the raised crater. They began to climb up hill. At the top, they saw Celean and some harpies gathered around a spot. Sarah rushed forward sensing the worse and Aqours followed.

“Where’s my sister?!”

Celean turns around to see the ten girls stand a good distance away. She looked down to her right then nudged one of the harpies to move, revealing an injured Leah. She has cuts along her body, and was bleeding from her forhead. Sarah ran at Celean, but didn’t run far as Celean raised her talons at Leah. Sarah stopped seeing the life threatening spot Leah is in.

“There’s your sister little one. Do you see her?” Leah raised her head to see Sarah, torn between sadness and anger. Leah mustered all her strength as she tried to crawl towards Sarah. Celean slams her feet down on Leah’s body and began to squeeze down as Leah coughs out blood.

“STOP!”

“I told you before did I not? If you want your sister back alive, then come get her.”

Celean points her wand to the right and summons forth a golem. Then another golem to her left. Then she summons two clones of herself in her transformed state.

“Leave us, this will be our fight.” Celean signals for the harpies to leave and they left.

Celean picks Leah up and tosses her to the side. The golems move behind her and the clones moved next to her. Sarah took a look at her sister before locking her eyes on Celean. Dia and Ruby moved beside her and the rest of Aqours stood behind them. Both sides stared down each other, ready for battle.


	37. Clones

The two Celean clones dove straight into the pack. The girls began firing off bolts but the clones skillfully dodged the bolts, spinning around and moving side to side. One clone went pass the front line and grabbed Yoshiko with her talons pulling her away from the group. Riko ran after Yoshiko. The second went to the right and pulled Hanamaru away. Chika and You ran after but were cut off by a boulder thrown by a golem. They looked over to see Ruby running behind the golem to get to Hanamaru. The second golem went to engage but Kanan and Mari blasted it to the side with a combined “Heavy Geyser” and “Raiju Cannon”.

Dia fired up a small flare before she ran in with Sarah at Celean. Celean backstepped and fired of wind blades at them.They both ducked away and shot fire and ice bolts back. Celean took to the air to avoid them and fired a lightning blast at Sarah.An ice pilar was raised to block. Sarah followed it up with a blast of ice. Celean dives under it and a fireball just misses her as she looks at Dia. Celean flies her way to Dia. Dia spins in a circle and a ring began to glow around her. Celean senses the danger and pulls up as a ring of fire erupts around Dia, just missing Celean. Celean begins to climb higher.

“Dammit. She’s getting out of range.”

“Shooting moving targets is different when they can fight back.”

“I’ll summon my ice bird.”

“Don’t, I have it covered.”

Just as Dia finishes saying that, two brooms came flying in. Dia shot the flare to signal for her and Ruby’s brooms to fly to their location.

“Impressive.”

“It’s something Hoshizora-sensei taught me when I went to her office.” Dia and Sarah got on the brooms and took to the sky.

Riko ran towards where the Celean clone and Yoshiko are fighting. She used “Twin Fermata” while the clone was busy. The clone quickly created two pillars of wind blocking the pillars of light from Riko. Yoshiko used “Shadow Step” to appear behind the Celean clone. She shot out an ice spike but it was interrupted when it back kicked her. It then followed with a side kick, knocking Yoshiko to the ground. A fist of light smacks the clone before she could attack again, sending it away from Yoshiko.

“Yocchan, are you okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Yoshiko quickly pulls Riko in before she raised a dark veil, canceling out a lightning blast. The clone creates a circle of lightning above them before it blasts down. Yoshiko and Riko moved out of the way. More circles formed above Yoshiko forcing her to continue running from the storm of lightning. Soon multiple circles formed around her. Yoshiko created a ring of dark energy around her to absorb the attacks. Riko fired some crescendos towards the clone which was met with its own wind blades. The clone made its way towards Riko. Ice pillars came up in front of it as it maneuvers its way around them. When it cleared the pillars and had a view of Riko, a circle of light shot out in front of Riko. The clone dives just beneath the beam of light. The beam was close as light burns appeared on its back.

The clone swipes at Riko’s arm, disarming her. Then it roundhouse kicks Riko in the back, knocking her down. The clone then grabs Riko with its talons and takes her into the air. Yoshiko sees the Celean clone fly around with Riko in its grasp. Yoshiko runs to pick up Riko’s wand and puts it in her holster. She looks up to see Celean climb up in the air and begins to descend down at a fast speed with Riko at the bottom. Yoshiko erects a line of ice pillars making a stairway. She then casted “Shadow Boost”. Yoshiko waited for the clone to get within her estimated range. Then Yoshiko took off, jumping from pillar to pillar. At the last pillar, Yoshiko bent down and jumped into the air. She shot off a dark lightning blast, making sure to not hit Riko. The blast hits the clone’s right arm and it loses its grip on Riko. Riko fell from the sky before Yoshiko came by and pulls her into a hug. Yoshiko then shot an energy wave at the ground to try and cushion their fall. They hit the ground, Yoshiko holding on tight to make sure Riko wasn’t hurt.

“Hah..hah… Riri...are you…good?”

“I am. Thank you.”

The two look over to see the clone shake off the dark energy eating away at it. The clone then screeched and casted a wind column on its feet. It flew back then forward at a break neck speed, talons first.

“Here.”

Riko looked at her wand and took it. She shot a beam of light at the clone. The clone begins to rotate and the wind started to spread over its body. Now a drill like wind attack heads their way as it clashes with Riko’s attack. The clone drills through the attack as the light beam dispersed on contact. Riko puts more power in as she stands up and put both hands on her wand. Yoshiko staggers to her feet and fired a dark energy blast. The two attacks combine and begin to slow down the clone. The clone spun faster and faster, trying to break through. Soon the light and dark beam envelops the clone. The attacks dissapated and the clone fell to the ground. It then dispersed slowly into dark particles confirming it’s been defeated.

“We did it!”

“Hah…hah…yeah…..nice…..work..ggghh.” Yoshiko collapsed.

“Yocchan!”

“Sorry….I….think…I used too much dark magic.”

“Do you think you can get back into the fight?”

“I…don’t know. Probably….not. My body’s aching.”

“Alright, I’ll stay with you then.” Riko moved Yoshiko to where she’s resting on her lap as they watched their friends fight.

A large circle formed from above and lightning struck down. Hanamru erected a spirit shield around her and Ruby. The shield was able to hold out long enough for the lightning attack to end. Ruby prepared her “Phoenix Spiral” and fired when the spirit shield was dropped. The last Celean clone dodged to the left and fired a cannon of pressurized wind. Ruby raised up a fire wall to block. The attack was stopped momentarily before it broke through the fire wall. Ruby and Hanamaru were already out of the attacks path as Hanamaru fired “Piercing Light”. The clone shot a lighting blast to cancel it. The light beam split into four surprising the clone. Two of the four hits the clone; one in the thigh and one in the stomach.

Ruby fired a fireball at the clone. A wind pillar came up and sends the fireball away. The clone took flight and began to rain lightning bolts at Ruby. Hanamaru channeled her “Pulsing Star Blast” and fired it at the clone chasing Ruby. The attack hits the clone and sends it crashing into the ground. A circle of fire forms above it as it tries to get up. Fire comes shooting down, but it rolls out of the way in time.

“Ruby-chan, we need to stop it from flying around, zura.”

“If I can hit it with a strong enough fire, I should be able to burn her wings.”

“Let’s try that. I also have another idea if it doesn’t work, zura.”

Ruby used “Dancing Flames” and spikes of fire formed around her and she hurls them at the clone. A wind wall was erected and blocks the fire. The clone goes up into the air again. It lauches out an electro ball followed by a wind blade. The wind blade speeds up the electro balls speed before it splits it in two. Ruby and Hanamaru were caught, not expecting it to split, and the two gets shocked. Ruby looks up and the clone swoops down, cutting Ruby’s arm as she defends herself. Then, it circles around and kicks Hanamaru to the ground. It steps on her chest and smashes her down into the ground. Its talons begin to dig into Hanamaru’s body.

A blast of fire comes rushing by the clones head as it looks over to Ruby. It picks Hanamaru up and throws her at Ruby. Ruby cathes Hanamaru the best she can. Ruby falls down catching Hanamaru and as she gets up, she gets hit by a blast of wind. She gets blown away from Hanamaru who was trying to get up. The clone gets to Ruby and picks Ruby up by her head. It prepares to attack but a beam of light hits its back. The clone turned around to see Hanamaru casting another spell. Ruby gets thrown into the ground as the clone makes its way to Hanamaru.

Two circles of light form above Hanamaru. They charged up and fired at the clone. The clone took flight and dodged the shots with a combination of barrel rolls and lightning blasts. Hanamaru ducks as it flies past her, tapping the ground with her wand. The clone turns around ready for another attack, then a fireball came whizzing by. Ruby created more fire spikes around her and combined with Hanamaru’s “Spirit Soul”, they begin to unleash a barrage of non stop attacks. The clone flew around dodging and countering as best it could.

It found an opening when Ruby had to recast her fire spikes and shot a lightning blast between the two, creating some dust to obscure vision and separating the two. The clone came down and knocked Hanamaru away before it get's to Ruby. It picks Ruby up and begins to squeeze her neck. Ruby aimed her wand into at the chest and shot a fire wave at the clone. The clone was now aflame as it stumbles backwards trying to get the fire out. As it steps around, light began to shine beneath it then a light prison formed around it. The clone bumped into a wall and was stung by the light and then got stung by bumping into another wall before stopping itself from moving.

It looked around and saw Ruby begin to cast her next spell. It tried to break free by attacking the prison with different spells, but to no avail as Hanamaru poured her energy into keeping it up. Ruby finished and shot a phoenix at the clone. Just as the phoenix was about to come into contact with the prison, Hanamaru released the prison and the clone gets hit. The phoenix sends the clone towards Hanamru as she prepares her spell. Then Hanamaru used “Itsumade’s Screech”, and a fire bird meet’s Ruby’s phoenix as the two birds of fire sandwich the clone, burning it alive. The attacks wore out and the clone falls to the ground burnt before slowly disappearing.

“Hanamaru-chan, you’re hurt.”

“You’re hurt too, zura.”

“I'm okay. That was a nice idea Hanamaru-chan.”

“Thank you. You were great Ruby-chan.”

“Let’s rest a bit and wrap up our wounds.”

“Right. I’m sure the rest can win their battles, zura.”


	38. Golems

The golem smashes the ground causing it to shake around Chika and You. Parts of the ground raised up a bit as they lost their balance. The golem jumped up and did a two hand smash on Chika, but Chika got out of the way. A water spear was tossed at the Golems back, but only scratched it. It creates a boulder and throws it at You. Chika interepts it with her own boulder and You fires a “Hydro Turrent” at the golem. The damage was little as it only takes a step back.

Chika used “Grasping Roots” to root the golem in place. Then she charged in with “Titan’s Hammer” and You charged in with “Poseidon Spear”. The golem rips off the roots that binded its legs and puts it hands forward. A beam of light formed at its hand and shot out. It hits both girls as they get sent back. Then a giant beam of light fires at them as they were on the ground. Chika gets up and erect an earth wall. The wall blocks it but a part of it was turning dark. Chika picked helped You up and they got out before the beam broke through.

The golem began to chase after Chika and You. It shot light beams as it chased. Chika and You maneuvered around to make it hard for it to hit them. On occasion they would shoot bolts back at the golem. The golem sjumped and slammed its hand to the ground. A wall formed in front of the girls. Chika raised roots from the ground to form stairway up to the top. As they ran on the root, a beam was shot at it and destroyed their footing. A golem took a swing at Chika as she fell. Chika tried to form an earth shield as fast as she can to mitigate the damage. She gets hit and gets sent near the edge of the crater.

You lands on her back from the fall and grimaces in pain. She looks over to see Chika roll on the ground from her hit. A shadow loomed over her as she sees the golem ready to pummel her. You rolls out and onto her feet as it missed her. She begins to put some distance between them before she creates a water wall. Then You fires a barrage of water bullets from the wall. The golem was marginally affected by the barrage and aimed at the wall. It shoots a light beam at the wall. The water wall begins to boil and You got away just before it exploded.

Boulders gets tossed You’s way as she avoids them. One ended up getting tossed Chika’s way. You turns around and shoots a turrent of water to destroy the boulder. Just then the golem shoots at You with a beam and hits her leg. You fell to the ground and the golem approached. You tried to get up but the golem got to her and grabbed her. It begins to squeeze her as she screams in pain. Chika begins to get up and see You in trouble. Chika uses “Atlas Punch” on the golem. The golem looks at Chika’s direction.

“Let her go you oversized pile of rubble!”

The golem shoots Chika with its other hand. Chika dodged and readied another “Atlas Punch”. The golem squeezed more than it pulled its arm back. Finally it tosses You in Chika’s direction. Chika made a wall beneath her as she tries to go and catch You, It gets destroyed by the golem. As she fell, she created some roots to catch You and again to no avail as it gets shot down also. Chika screamed as she watched You go over her head and over the edge of the island.

Chika glares at the golem and begins to attack it relentlessly. Bolts and earth fists headed its way. The golem blocked the attack but some of the fists hits the golem, knocking it back some. Chika charged in with “Titan’s Hammer” at the ready. She dodged as the golem shot boulders at her and smacked the golem’s legs. The golem begins to stmble and Chika continues to hit it again. The golem topples over to one knee. Chika got ready for more and failed to see a hand aimed at her. Before she realized it she gets shot by a beam and falls to the ground. Chika looked up as the golem got up and approached her.

Suddenly a roar could be heard and the golem and Chika looked at where it came from. From the edge raised a water dragon with You in it. The dragon charged towards the golem as You shoots water bullets from the dragon. The golem blocks the bullets and then the dragon crashes through its arm, staggering it. You flies back around for another charge and knocks it back again. The golem tries ot shoot You down, but with her maneuvering and casting of “Shifting Waves”, You and her water dragon evaded all of it’s attacks.

An earth wall forms behind the golem, distracting it for a bit. Then You and her water dragon came crashing through and sends the golem to the wall. You continues pressing the golem against the wall as Seiryu rams into it. Chika began to channel her next spell. Groans can be heard form the golem as it begins to become damp from the continuous water being crashed into it. Soon, “Prowling Seiryu” runs its course and dissipates. You lands on the ground and runs towards Chika. The golem moves slowly towards the girls, completely drenched. Chika finishes her channel and casted “Terra Lotus”. The groud beneath the golem shooks as a circle appeared. Then four petals of earth sprung from the ground, launching the golem into the air. Finally the golem drops and gets crushed between the four petals. From being drenched by an enormous amount of water, it crumbles.

“You-chan!” Chika ran to hug You.

“Sorry Chika-chan for worrying you.”

“Huuuuu!”

“Chika-chan, not so tight. I have some fractures.”

“Sorry. I guess we’re done here.”

“Yeah, let’s leave the rest to the others.”

Mari rolled on the ground and shot “Raiju Cannon”. The golem her and Kanan are fighting shoots a light beam at it, both attack canceling each other out. Water began to form below the golem before it burst up under it. Mari shot a lightning blast at the golem. It slams its hands down forming a wall to block the lightning. It then punches the wall, sending rocks towards Mari. Mari blasted a few before she runs out of the way.

Kanan get’s behind it and shoots” Heavy Geyser”. It pushes the golem back a bit. The golem puts its hand out and shoots a beam at Kanan to which she dodged. A lightning blast comes from behind the golem, hitting it. It turns around and shoots a beam at Mari. It misses and Mari and Kanan ran around the golem, getting in bolts of lightning and water. The golem swings and shoots beams at them, but misses. Mari rushes in with “Thunder Rush.” It hits the golem in the back as the impacts knock it forward. Kanan follows the attack up with “Catacea Rush”. Four water circles appear around the golem, then dolphin of water comes rushing out of a circle into the opposite one. It swims through the golem, knocking it back and forth, side to side.

The attack ended and Mari channeled “Shining Nebula”. Before she could use it, the golem hit the ground and area around Mari shook and rose up. Mari lost her balance and lost “Shining Nebula”. The golem shot a beam across the ground in front of Kanan. Using the dust and debris from that, it came up in punched Kanan. Mari fired lightning bolts from atop and the golem shot at the platform. Mari got out of the way to avoid falling as it continued to shoot at the areas below Mari. The golem ran at Mari as she was trying to get her footing. It jumps and throws a punch, missing Mari, but destroyed the ground underneath Mari. Mari fell and as she was falling a beam of light hits her and sends her into the remnants of the platform.

It approaches Mari, but then Kanan hits it with water bolts. It turns around to see Kanan running at it. The golem fires beams at Kanan. Kanan weaved her way through and got to the golem’s feet. She begins to pepper it with more bolts. Kanan ran underneath it, shoots it, runs to its side, shoots it, and continues to repeat the process. The golem in turn threw punches and stomps to get Kanan. Soon enough Kanan shoots water into the ground around the golem. She keeps doing this for a bit before she latched onto the golem’s leg.

Kanan puts her wand to her holster and began to climb as the golem tries to shake her off.  When the golem tries to swipe her, Kanan stopped and fired a blast of water at its arm. She made her way to its back as it couldn’t reach her there. Kanan aims her wand and blasted as much water as she could, getting renched in the process. The water poured onto the ground as it begins to get soggy and puddles formed. Then a shift of weight was felt as the golem jumped and leaned back. Quickly, Kanan let her grip go and shot “Heavy Geyser”, using the force to push her away.

The golem landed on its back and Kanan was a good distance away. Kanan got up and channeled as the golem started to get up. Once finished, “Aqua Prison” was used and the water beneath the golem began to bubble and formed into a pool around it. Then the water engulfed the golem in a sphere. The golem couldn’t move mush as it has no footing and is floating in the prison. Kanan crossed her arms with her wand pointed down. “Crush”, the pressure in the prison increased and the golem moaned as it feels like it was getting crushed.

The golem tried to resist and break free making Kanan put more energy into the prison. A blast of lightning came from the side and electrocuted the prison. Kanan looked over to see Mari up and fine. The golem’s resistance began to waver as it begins to curl up from the pressure. Mari kept her attack going and Kanan raised her arms up. Once more Kanan swung her arms down, crossed, and wand pointing down to put one final heave in her attack. The golem broke into rubble and the prison was released.

“Kanan!”

“Thanks for the help Mari. It was resisting pretty well in the prison. Whoops.”

“I got you. You’re spent huh?”

“Yeah, putting in that much pressure took a lot out of me.”

“I’ll keep you safe. Hopefully the others are good with their fights.”

Yoshiko tried to get up a few times but her body is still extremely fatigued. Riko tells Yoshiko to take it easy and just rest. Yoshiko sighs and looks to her right. Riko followed her gaze.

“Ah, Leah-chan!”

“Is she out?”

“I don’t know, she was conscious before Celean steped on her and tossed her.”

“We should go check and make sure she’s alright.”

“I’ll go.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“You can barely stand Yocchan.”

“I’m not letting you go out there alone. Who knows what could happen.”

“Everyone else is occupied.”

“I’m going Riri.”

“……Fine, I’ll help you over there.”

Riko helped Yoshiko up and they slowly made their way over to Leah. Halfway there, a few blades of wind crashed in front of them. They looked up to see Dia and Sarah blasting away at Celean and Celean returning the favor.

“We need to hurry. Leah-chan could get caught in the crossfire.”


	39. Vs. Celean

_‘Let us fly Madam Harpy Queen. Show me how you dance on the wind’_

_-Ephraim’s Curious Devices_

Celean flew forward as Dia and Sarah fired bolts at her from behind. She dodged the bolts before pulling a sudden stop making Dia and Darah pass her. Celean then shot bursts of wind at them. Dia and Sarah split ways and Celean followed after Dia.

Dia turned left and so did Celean. Dia continued her turn and the two now flew in wide circles around each other. Dia fired fireballs while Celean fired wind blades. Their attacks clashed with one another, neither attack getting through. Then they both dived down. Celean created a funnel of wind around her catching Dia by surprise. Then Celean spread her arms out and the funnel blew outwards, making Dia lose control for a bit as her broom shakes around. Celean took the chance and struck Dia in the arm with a kick, leaving a cut in her arm.

Celean stopped and watched as Dia spun out, then an ice spike flew by. Celean looked over to see more coming her way as she flies up to avoid the danger. Sarah began to twirl her wand and fired off spinning ice spikes. They pierced through the air and travelled faster then what Celean expected. One ends up cutting her waist as she drops some altitude. A blast of ice followed and Celean shot a lightning blast to counter. The two attacks collide with neither giving in. The blasts continue to clash as they fly around in a circle until it exploded.

Celean recovered and flew straight at Sarah who was regaining her balance. She rams into Sarah and she falls off her broom, but she was able to hang onto it with one hand. Celean comes right back to attack again but was tackled by Dia before she could rech Sarah. Dia fired a fireball at Celean, hitting her in the right leg. Dia casted “Fox Fire” and began to go after Celean. Sarah got back on her broom and used “Frost Salvo”. Iceballs formed around Sarah and she followed Dia.

Celean flew around as fireballs and iceballs come at her with Dia and Sarah giving chase. As soon as she dodges another attack head in her direction forcing her to shoot down the projectiles as she dodges. Then, Celean does an inside loop and flies up and over Dia and Sarah. Celean creates funnel of wind around her and began to spin as she charges behind the girls. The remnants of “Fox Fire” and “Frost Salvo” gets deflected and Celean closes in. Sarah and Dia split up before she got too close. With Celean in between them, she blasts apart the funnel and wind blades shot out in every direction.

Dia and Sarah did their best to maneuver through the storm of blades. They each get cuts from the few they couldn’t avoid. Celean flew at them again. Dia and Sarah were able to move out of the way in time as Celean flew by them. They began to chase Celean again and they exchanged a flurry of bolts with Celean. 

“We’re at a disadvantage in the air.”

“I would have to agree, we need to get this fight near the ground.”

“I doubt she’ll let us just decend to the ground.”

They continued to think about a way to get the fight back on land. It was cut short when they see their enemy fly back towards them. Then Sarah had an idea. The two girls aimed their wands at each other and fired ice and fire blasts at each other. Soon, smoke began to form in the air. Celean went through the smoke and missed her target. She gazed into the smoke trying to locate where the two girls are. Then Celean realized that she could just blow the smoke away. She readied to shoot a gust of wind then Dia and Sarah zipped through the bottom and nosedived to the the ground.

Celean stopped her attack and pursued. She curled up a bit and dark energy began to spread round her. Dia and Sarah looked back to see some distance building between them and Celean. Suddenly a screech was heard and Celean dived down at blazing speeds. The two girls knew this wasn’t good and flew as fast as they could. The gap closed and then Celean swiped through them from the side. Then she tackled both of them upward. Two funnels of wind formed on her arms and she clotheslined Dia and Sarah in the body.

Dia and Sarah gets carried through the air, the wind funnels from Celean, adding more damage to their bodies. Celean’s arms cocked back before she flings them down. Dia mustered what strength she could to call for the brooms. It didn’t work as Celean blasted the brooms with lightning. The two girls plummeted towards the ground, trying to figure out what to do. Sarah aimed her wand below and began to summon her ice bird. Celean saw the blue glow and tailed after them again. Before Sarah finished her channel, Celean clotheslines them again and is now locked into driving them into the ground.

“Onee-chan!”

The rest of Aqours looks up to see the situation. They were able to regroup after winning their fights and began to recover a bit. Leah was being tended to also.

“Shit! Celean is right on them.”

“We need to break their fall somehow, zura.”

“But getting Celean off them is the problem.”

Then, screeching can be heard from behind them. Harpies are flying in. adding more to their problems.

“Dammit! Get ready for battle.”

“But Dia.”

“I’ll catch Dia and Sarah.”

“What? You’re in no shape for that Yocchan.”

“I have enough to rescue them. After that, it’ll be up to you all.”

Yoshiko got away from the group and positioned herself to wear she has a striaghtline shot at Dia and Sarah. Aqours looked on for a brief moment before they ran towards the harpies to fight and prevent them from getting any closer. Yoshiko aimed her wand at the gap between Sarah and Dia. She breathed slowly, gathering whatever she has left into one shot. “This won’t kill Celean, but it’ll give them enough time to gather themselves.” Yoshiko shoots a dark energy spike at Celean. Celean saw the spike and pulled back, but the spike hits her right shoulder. It begins to eat away at her shoulder as Celean began to fall herself.

Yoshiko erected ice pillars like before, creating a pathway. Then she used “Shadow Boost”, ran up the pillars, and jumped. She catches Dia and Sarah in both arms. As she fell, Yoshiko tried to center her aim to the ground and shot an energy wave, flipping them, and using herself to cushion the fall for Dia and Sarah. Dia opened her eyes to see Yoshiko gasping for air.

“Yoshiko-san!”

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Don’t…hah…..worry…. bout me. Just beat Celean.”

“You’re right, we beat Celean and this all ends.”

“How’s Leah?”

“She’s over there. We treated her a bit.”

“Thank you.”

Dia and Sarah looked over to where Celean was. She was putting out the dark energy on her arm. Yoshiko made her way to Leah while the other two ran to Celean. Dia used “Meteor Smash” and Celean got away. A blast of ice followed after and a dark veil came up negating the blast. Celean’s eyes began to dialate as she put another burst of dark energy around her. She jumped and flew at fast speeds and got to the two girls, catching them by surprise. She kicks Dia away and struck away at Sarah. Sarah dodged the kicks and swings of Celean. The unrelenting attacks gave Sarah almost no time to counter.

Sarah rolled under Celean after a lunge and raised an ice wall before Celean came back for another attack. Then from behind, a fire shuriken hits Celean and slams her into the wall. She screams in pain as the fire burns her back. Sarah points her wand to the wall and an ice pillar comes out of it smacking, Celean onto the ground. Multiple ice spikes formed above Celean and lunges down at her. The ice spikes didn’t plunge all the way down as Sarah and Dia looked on.

A concentrated gust of wind surrounded Celean and it started to turn dark. Then it bursted out, destroying the spikes. Celean mad dashed and tackled Sarah into the ground. Celean started slamming her talons down at Sarah as she dodged and rolled out of the way. A fire bolt hits Celean from behind and she flies to Dia. Dia shot a fire blast, which was met by a dark lightning blast form Celean. The fire was pushed back and Dia gets hit by the lightning. Celean picks Dia off the ground and before Sarah could attack she holds Dia in front of her. Celean tosses Dia forward and shoots a wind blast at her sending her crashing into Sarah.

Celean was ready for more as she flies towards them. Sarah raiased another ice wall as she gets Dia up. Celean created a wind funnel at her feet and dive kicked into through the ice wall. A ring of fire rose around Dia and Sarah. Celean flew to the ring then shot up into the air. Seeing the top of the ring, she got to the opening and was about to dive down until a blast of ice knocks her down to the ground. Dia and Sarah began to channel, ready for the next attempt by Celean. Once again Celean created wind around her feet. She flew back then towards the ring spinning around like a drill. She meets the ring head on and tried to disperse it.

Out of nowhere an ice bird came from behind Celean and hits her in the opening of her attack. The ice bird breaks Celeans attack and she gets sandwiched into the fire ring. Dia and Sarah weren’t sure what was happening as they heard Celean scream. Eventually the ice bird disappeared along with the ring of fire. What was seen was Celean barely standing as she’s burned and bleeding. Dia and Sarah looked behind Celean to see Leah standing with Yoshiko’s help.

“Onee-sama, finish it!”

Celean started to slowly walk towards her opponents and raised her arms. Dia and Sarah aimed their wands and attacked. “Phoenix Flare” and “Artic Phoenix” was used as the two birds, one of fire and one of ice, combine and hits Celean. Frost and burns mixed on Celean as she tries to break away but to no avail. The attack carries here through the air an over the edge as she’s sent crashing down into the waters.

The harpies that fought against the rest of Aqours stopped the fight. They stayed in the air looking around, as the girls kept their guards up. Soon one harpy screeched and they all fled the area. The fight was over as the group all reunited at Yoshiko’s and Leah’s position.

“Leah, I’m so glad you’re alright.”

“Thank you onee-sama. I’m glad you’re okay too.”

“Yocchan, here.” Riko lent Yoshiko her shoulder.

“Good job everyone.”

“Don’t celebrate yet You-chan. We don’t know what’s happening at the school.” Ruby said worriedly.

“No problemo, I’m positive our teachers have it covered.”

“Mari-chan’s right. Our teachers won’t lose.”

“Onee-chan, let me bandage up your wounds.”

“Thank you Ruby.”

“We’re two brooms short for the return trip. I guess some people have to share, zura.”

“Ruby, you can take mine.”

“Are you sure Yoshiko-chan?”

“Its… nevermind. I’m sure, I’ll ride with Riri.”

“You can use mine. And maybe you could autograph it?”

“Chika-san, really?” Dia questioned.

“I don’t mind. Leah won’t either.”

“Thank you for the offer.”

“It’s not a problem. Let’s go You-chan.”

“We got to walk back to our brooms, so let’s rest a bit first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I didn't think this work would go this far but there's only one arc left. I would like to keep it at 50 chapters but I kind of need to build up for the next arc and make an epilogue, so it might go past 50 . More than likely I'll cut short the break chapters to get the next arc going.


	40. Return to School

Lightning sends a clone into a fountain. Eli approached and shot another blast to ensure the kill. A clone ran around the corner and gets sniped by an arrow from Umi. Fire spikes from Maki impale a few grounded harpies trying to take flight. Nico corners another clone and ends it with an energy blade. Hanayo wrapped some roots around a few harpies and crushed them. Honoka and Erena ran a sweep around the buildings for any more enemies.

In the skies the last few harpies were slain. Rin, Kotori, Nozomi, and Anju ran a scan from the air. Tsubasa helped the rest of the teachers and students provide medical care to the injured. There was a clone or two left that were found, but they collapsed on their own and dispersed into dark energy. With a call for confirmation, the threat had ended. The students and faculty began treatment for the injured and cleaning up the mess from the fight.

A little while later, Aqours and Saint Snow returned on campus and went to Maki’s team for treatment. They reported everything that happened to them and received a thank you from Tsubasa for what they did. Of course, Saint Snow being hurt was something that the school didn’t want, but it was good that they’re alright. Sarah wrote a quick letter to send to their manager who was staying in a town nearby to update her on what happened. She also asked for their time off to be extended considering the situation.

Umi and Eli led the clean up crew as they gathered the harpies into an area on campus. The clones all eventually dispersed into energy particles. Nozomi, Kotori, and Erena went around assessing the damages done to the school and the repair costs and durations. Rin picked up some harpies and carried them with Hanayo on a cart.

“Should we keep one to study nyaa?”

“M-maybe. The ones that were revived would be good to look at also.”

“We shoud keep a few for ourselves.” Maki approached with some water. “Here.”

“Thanks nyaa.”

“How many do we keep Maki-chan?”

“I’d say a minimum of three each. It gives us some room for error if we can keep a good number of them.”

“Don’t you think the institute will be mad at us keeping things a secret from them?”

“Oh yeah, we did keep that spider lady and some spiderlings for ourselves nyaa.”

“More like we took care of it ourselves. They have no knowledge of the spider incident.”

“Nishikino-chan is right.” Anju came up to join in. “The Magic Council and Magic Institute of Enforcement do what they can for the magic society, but they are too cautious. It prevents progress, which is why we need to do things on our own accord”

The Magic Institute of Enforcement was similar to law enforcement, but for the magic society. Anything that would relate to magic is their responsibility to take care of. They work in conjunction with the Council to keep everyone in line. There are research institutes that are sponsored by them that have more leniency when it came to the rules, while the others have to comply with the laws and regulations. One of the things that they are very strict on is dark magic. They don't have anyone in their employment that can use dark magic and they intend to keep it that way. They don't have a high view of people who use dark magic. Though they let people research it, if they deem that the party in question is treading dangerous grounds then they'll strip them of support. Some leave it at that, while others continue their pursuits and become wanted criminals. Knowing the dangers, some magic schools decided that it'll be best to keep some secrets from the Council and Institute.

“If we don’t secretly keep things from them, it’ll be tough to convince them to let us get corpses of our enemies and do studies of topics they son’t particularly want people to do.”

“Look over at Tsushima-san. She’s basically using dark magic on her own. Had we informed them of what she’s done since the Alise incident, no doubt they would kick her out from school and put her and her mom on the blacklist.”

“R-right.”

“When do you think the Council and Institute will change their views nyaa?”

“I don’t know. But if someone can show them real living proof of their hypothesis, then they would have no choice but to change.”

“Tsushima-san could be the one to change things, but she’s still young. It’s too early to tell if she can fully control it. That’s why it’s just us that knows she is using dark magic as freely as she is. They think she’s still doing basic research so they won’t bother us much.”

“Hey! Shouldn’t y’all be working and not slacking off?” Nico yelled at the four.

“Tch, and what do you know about working hard Nico-chan?”

“Shut it Doc. I totally took out the most enemies during the fight.”

“Aww, ya’ll had a contest? I would’ve fought a lot more of them had I known nyaa.”

“I-I think it was a joke Rin-chan.”

“It was. I think our doctor here was too busy watching her prince fight then doing it herself.”

“Huh? You were napping when you had patrol duty and you got cornered by the clones if I wasn’t mistaking.”

“Nico-chan got cornered?”

“No I did not. I had it under control, but Honoka-chan interfered with my plan.”

“And what do the five of you think you’re doing?”

“We’re working dammit. They…..”

Nico began to sweat as she saw Umi who wasn’t looking too pleased. Anju wondered off before she got caught in the crossfire leaving the four teachers to deal with Umi. Hanayo hugged Rin tight, hoping to get help. Nico tried to explain the situation but Umi began to lecture them about their duties as teachers and what it is they’re supposed to be doing right now. Maki apologized and looked at Umi with sad eyes, to which calmed Umi’s anger a bit. Then Maki dragged Umi away to end the conversation.

The next day came and Saint Snow’s manager arrived. She was panicked when she saw the girls bandaged up. Sarah tried to calm her down as she began to write an apology letter to their agency and coming up with an excuse. Tsubasa talked to the manager and reassured her that they’re doing everything they can to treat Saint Snow. The good news was that Saint Snow did get two extra weeks off and that allowed them to stay at Uranohoshi for an extra day or two. This time, their manager is staying too to make sure nothing else happened.

At the Guilty Kiss residence, Riko was wrapping some bandages around Yoshiko. Yoshiko was still sore from her use of dark magic, but with more experience, the longer she’ll last using it. An idea came up in Yoshiko’s mind about how else she could use it during the fight with Celean, but the risk was something she didn’t want to take, so she shelved it. Mari came in with her usual cheery mood and asked them if they would like to get a massage. Seems like theres mini spa area to the west side of Takama and she has reservations for it. Riko and Yoshiko agreed and Mari invited the rest of Aqours, Saint Snow, and their manager to come along.

Everyone was amazed at the spa they went to. Apparently Mari’s definition of a mini-spa was different from everyone elses. It was extravagant and they had the whole place to themselves for a few hours. They all went in with joy as this was most likely their first time at a spa. A mix of traditional and magic based treatments provided a good variety of things for them to experience and could benefit their health in the long run. The group spent the afternoon enjoying themselves, deserving to have a break after the latest incident.

Back on the island a small boat was docked near the shoreline near the crater. Two women hopped down and began looking around. They were being casual about it as they spoke to each other. Then one of them spotted something and went ahead to check it out.

“Heeeyyy! I found her.” She said, waving the other over.

“Is she alive?”

“Barely, she’s a tough one.”

“Why the hell is Agrius making us look for Celean?”

“Who knows, maybe Agrius is fond of Celean.”

“Bah, its pointless. She could always find another.”

“Oh Manah, you just don’t understand what it means to have a pet do you?”

“Alise, if you start talking about bonds with a pet again.”

“Fine. But you do know that Celean is what she is because of Agrius right?”

“Yeah. To think she would infuse harpy blood and dark magic into a human body like that.”

“The same could be said for Jurogumo you know.”

“True, but she was already like that when she was recruited was she not?”

“Yep. But considering Agrius helped make Celean into a harpy, I think she’s fond of Celean.”

“So now, she’s going to nurse her back to health.”

“A good owner would help their pet.”

“Whatever. Let’s load her up on the boat. Once we drop her off with the foot soldiers, we got another area to hit.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. You alright there Celean?”

“…..kr.krrrg…”

“She looks fine to me. Now pick her up.”

“Hurrrg….she’s a bit heavier than she looks. You want to help me out here?”

“Nope.”

“Hey!”

“I don’t understand what it means to have a pet remember.”

“I want to smack you so bad.”

“Just hurry to the boat.”


	41. Evil Readies

Manah and Alise arrived at a magical creatures research facility. They went to the bottom of the cliff where a large sewer way was for their entrance. Alise was against this idea, but Manah was insistent on them taking this route to avoid complications.

“Ugh, whats the point of doing this if we’re going to kill them all anyways?”

“If we just killed them fromt the front door, someone is bound to send an emergency signal to the others. We don’t need the Institue breathing down our necks.”

“So we’re looking for Jurogumo?”

“From the reports, it would appear that Jurogumo was nowhere to be found after she died. I think she’s been dissected and her remains are at Uranohoshi.”

“Poor girl.”

“It’s not the first time a magic school is keeping things from the council.”

“So if its not Juro then who?”

“We’re looking for the giant spider they’re keeping here.”

“She’s going to make a spider girl?”

“Looks like it.”

“Who in our group even wants that?”

“Don’t worry about that. She found a candidate.”

“Do we kill the spider?”

“If we need to. Agrius would prefer it alive if we can, but I think extracting blood is more than enough.”

The two women entered into the sewers of the research facility. They went through the tunnels and headed up a hatch into a disposal room. Alise browsed through the waste to see what they’ve been doing here. Some remains of magical creatures, test tubes, destroyed equipment, etc. Manah signaled Alise to hide as some researchers came by. The researchers went into the disposal room and Alise and Manah grabbed them and killed them behind the trash.

They went out of the room and looked for the stairs up. They went pass some rooms that held some magical creatures but they weren’t the one that the two are looking for. Going up one level, the two are now in larger more open corridor. Past that was an open testing area with some creatures in cages or tubes. Alise looked around and found the giant spider on the floor above. When they arrived to the next level, they saw a number of researchers present.

“Welp, theres no way we’re getting through this without some noise.”

“We’ll kill them as fast as we can. No one escpaes here.”

“There are some in other areas too.”

“No problem, I set up some of our people around the outside to make sure nobody gets out.”

“Okay then, after you.”

Manah shadow stepped and disappeared. She then appeared between a group of researchers and struck them down dark energy. The other researchers are now alerted of whats happening and some tried to flee while others fought.

“Quick, get out and alert the Institute.”

“Roger!”

“Ah ah ah~, no one leaves here alive.” Alise appeared at the door and shot a lighting bolt through the escaping person’s head. The room became a battle zone as Manah and Alise began killing off everyone. Manah shadow stepped behind one researcher and grabbed her head. She began flooding her mind with painful images before pouring dark energy into her. Mnaha left and the researcher began screaming as she attacked her allies.

Some tried to get out through other doors. Alise flipped and spun her way around the room, blasting the doors with dark lightning to ensure no one tries to excape. With dark energy and electricity flowing from the doors, the researchers were left with only the option to fight. Alise pointed to the ground and dark chains wrapped around a few researchers. The chains began to tighten and tighten as it squeezed every ounce of air out of them. Some bolts flew by her as she turns around to see more prey.

It became a slaughter as the researchers were killed by Alise and Manah. None were able to combat the abilities of dark magic. Attacks were being absorbed and fired back, Alise and Manah disappearing and reappearing, minds being corrupted, bodies being controlled, etc. Soon the last of the researchers was killed and Alise returned back to Manah. They approached the cell holding the giant spider. The two examined the spider for a bit.

“So~, we carry this thing back with us?”

“Not necessarily. If we can extract enough blood, that’ll be sufficient enough for Agrius.”

“I ain’t doing that.”

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

“What about the other subjects here?”

“Well, they die too I guess. We were only told to get the spider.”

“Shame, but I guess burning down the place would be a good message.”

Once Manah finished extracting the blood, the two stood at the center of the facility. They created a dark sphere in the center and poured more and more energy into it. Soon a dark fire bomb was completed and began pulse. The two left and and bomb exploded sending the place ablaze. They watched on as dark fire eats away at the facility, screams from the remaining creatures were heard before it went quiet.

At an abandoned building, Celean laid on a table trying to regain her senses. A woman with bangs, partially covering one of her eyes, and brown hair approached. She ran her hands around Celean, carefully observing her, before stopping at Celean’s right arm.

“Celean my dear, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“….kill”

“I know, I know. But you failed, and here you are back at base. I must say, I was hoping for a bit more, but I realize that you had clones and golems running around. Along with the fact that you became somewhat feral for a bit.”

“….”

“Yes, well I think it’s time we fix you up a bit my dear. Firstly, we’ll get more harpy blood in you. I need those feral instincts to kick in. It saddens me that you could potentially completely lose your humanity once we’re done, but it’s for our cause. Secondly, we’ll implant your wand into your arm.”

“….huh?”

“You can use some magic without it, but this way, you can cast whenever you want without the hassle of having a wand. It’ll hurt like hell as your body accepts an actual wand placed in you, but I’m sure the rewards will be worth it.”

Some assistants showed up and had the tools ready. Agrius presses down on Celeans arm and begins to cut it open. Celean screamed at the pain of her exposed arm meeting the air. Agrius poured some dark energy in and it eats away at some of the flesh causing more pain and screaming. Then a wand was carefully placed into Celeans arm as she struggles about. With the wand in place, Agrius holds Celeans head and filled her mind with dark images. Her body tensed up and her own dark energy began to flow into the wound to heal it. The gash was closed up before being stitched together.

“Take her to the other room and prepare to infuse the harpy blood.”

“Yes ma’am.”

The assistants moved Celean to the next room. Agrius walks to nother table with another woman laying there. She taps the woman in the head a few times and she began to wake.

“Where am I?”

“Hello, you’re in my lab of sorts.”

“Agrius?”

“Yes, I recruited you remember?”

“I do. I trained a bit and helped you. Then I blacked out.”

“Correct; I have a role for you to do.”

“Which is?”

“You’ll become the next Jurogumo.”

“What? This isn’t what I wanted.”

“When you joined, you pledged to do whats needed for our cause, so you don’t have the right to refuse if I’m not mistaken.”

“I thought I would only be a witch in the field.”

“I thougt so too, but then we find out Jurogumo died and we can’t get to her body. So, we need a new one and I chose you.”

“I don’t want to become that.”

“You don’t have to; you can keep your human form. We just need you to be able to control the spiderlings for our fight.”

“I don’t want spider blood in me.”

“Too late for that. Alise and Manah should be getting it for me right now. Once they return, we’ll infuse you with it, go through the trials, and you’ll be the next Jurogumo. You’ll have your own army, doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Not like this.”

“Anyways, I’ll put you back to sleep now. “

“Hey…wait…I…”

Agrius puts the woman to sleep before turning her to stone. Then she walked out to a small study. She poured herself a cup of coffee before sifting through her notes.

‘Hmmm, this Yoshiko would be a problem if she’s done anything to develop her skills. But, with just her, the school will surely fall. The teachers will be a problem also. Actually those nine teachers, the Deputy Headmistresses, and the Headmistress herself. The rest is a coin flip. Some might be strong, while others will be weak. Should be perfect for our battle if a good number of the school body are pushovers. Maybe I should visit to gauge how much force I’ll need.’


	42. Impending Danger

Yoshiko continued to train her skills in drak magic. She did it alone and sometimes with her group. The issue was that since she was the only one who can use dark magic, she had to figure out the best way to have practice with each person. This of course tires her out, but she was determined to help out and learn the best she can.

The training has resulted in Yoshiko being able to absorb and reflect like Manah did. She’s tried to clone, but the clone wouldn’t hold form or would only last a few seconds before dispersing. There was one thing that she tried, but wouldn’t tell the others. She tried to control a few animals but it resulted in them becoming feral and Yoshiko had to kill them. This was definitely not an option after the failed attempts, even though she thought it could help if she was able to manipulate enemies.

The last bit of exams began before preparations for the finals. Everyone studied knowing that these exams would reflect a bit on what to expect for the finals. Yoshiko’s mind was occupied with something else and Riko had to do what she could to help out and keep Yoshiko on track. Dia held study sessions for to help when she could. Eventually the near end of March came and the exams started. The next few days followed a similar schedule, where everyone would wake up, study a bit, take exams, take breaks, and study for the next.

It all ended on the last day of March and the girls were lounging around in Mari’s room. Chika and Yoshiko lay on the floor exhausted.

“These were harder than the others.”

“Why do we have these with the finals coming up in May?”

“It’s how it is. I hope you two didn’t fail anything.”

“No worries Dia-chan, I made sure Yocchan was ready.”

“Same here with Chika-chan.”

“Well, I’m taking a nap once we finish up here.”

“Really Yoshikocchi? You don’t want to go shopping with me?”

“You’d probably buy everything and show us anyways.”

“You got me there.”

Aqours finished their snacks and returned to their rooms. Yoshiko took her nap but something was bothering her as she fell asleep. It felt like something was pulling her away, something was calling out to her. ‘War…..prepare….join….or die.’

“Hey!”

“……hrmm”

Hey! I’m not going through this with you again!”

“hrrg, huahh. Where am I?”

“Your mind.”

“Huh? Wait, I thought you merged with me?”

“I did. Doesn’t mean I want to disappear entirely.”

“What do you want now?”

“Well, I was thinking.”

“About?”

“About the things you shelved. You know, the other ways to use dark magic.”

“And?”

“I think you shouldn’t be too scared on using them.”

“I tried and they didn’t work.”

“I know, but why not let’s say, use your “Shadow Boost”, but pass it on.”

“Hmmm.”

“You know Manah tried that with you, passing on her dark energy. It’s what got you on edge.”

“It’s not going to work.”

“Then use it on Riko.”

“The hell you say?”

“Try it on Riko.”

“No way in hell. How can you say that?”

“Whats wrong, you don’t believe in her?”

“I do belive in her.”

“Then she shouldn’t have to worry about becoming evil.”

“It’ll eat away at her.”

“I don’t think she’ll lose to it. She saved you did she not?”

“……It’s exposing her to danger..”

“You know, theres another reason why I called you here.”

“What, use it on my friends?”

“No, the reason is that I’m getting this weird feeling.”

“How weird?”

“You feel it a bit too don’t you? Something is coming and we need to be ready for it.”

Yoshiko thought back on this weird chill she gets from time to time after the Celean incident. Her other self was right, something was approaching, but the feeling didn’t last long enough for her to consider it a threat. Now, that feeling was persisting and she feels like someone was trying to speak to her from afar.

“Whoever this person is, wants to talk to you. But they could also want to kill you. We need to make sure you have options should things get dicey.”

“And that includes giving some dark energy to Riko for her to use?”

“No matter what, she’ll be at a disadvantage if this person is all dark energy. A short boost can make a difference. It won’t last long if you only pass on a bit.”

“I won’t.”

“Fine by me, you’ll see soon enough.”

“I won’t let it get to that point.”

“Alright, then this conversation is over. You can wake up now. It seems your wife is calling you.”

“Wait, my wife?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

The other Yoshiko fades away and a bright light engulfs the room. Yoshiko begins to wake from her nap to see Riko nudging her with a worried look on her face. She gets up from bed to see Riko pull her in for a hug. Yoshiko returns the hug but a worried look arises on her own face. If she wasn’t deep in thought before, she sure is now. Everything that was talked about in her mind began to occupy her thoughts.

In early April, school was running normally. Results from the exams were posted and met with either happiness or dejection. Everyone in Aqours passed and was in the top half of their respective classes. Chika surprised herself and asked to be pinched a few times to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Yoshiko would love to celebrate herself, but she was busy in thought.

Soon her thoughts came to a halt as she felt something evil nearby. Yoshiko looked around frantically as she began to draw attention from nearby students. Riko asked what was wrong as Yoshiko began to sweat. Her breathing became heavy as she looks for the source of her worries. Looking at Riko, Yoshiko held onto her hands before the feeling stopped. Yoshiko calmed down, before letting go of Riko. The feeling came up again and Yoshiko got a read on the location. She ran out to the front gate with Aqours following. They ran pass Umi and Eli who followed.

“Eli, do you feel it?”

“Yeah and I don’t like it. It seems Tsushima-san felt it too.”

In the headmistress’s office, Tsubasa stopped reading her book and called Erena and Anju. She didn’t have to say much as they figured out what was happening and were ready. The three of them left the office and headed out to the front.

At the front gate, a woman approached by herself and stopped as she saw a group of people run up. She zeroed in on Yoshiko and looked at her before Eli and Umi got up front. The woman created a stone chair and sat. She didn’t move or speak as Umi and Eli tried to get a read on her. Tsubasa, Erena, and Anju arrived soon after.

“Ah, there you are headmistress. Good to see you again.”

“Yes, it was a brief introduction last time.”

“You remember me?”

“This feeling came from you last time so I remember.”

“I’m honored.” She got up and began to walk forward. “My name is Agrius, and I’m here to check out the scene.”

“And what exactly are you checking out?”

“The school, the teachers, the students, and the girl over there. Yoshiko Tsushima is her name.”

“What do you want with me?”

“Glad you asked. I believe you are acquainted with some of my friends. So this shouldn’t be too much of a shock, but I ask you to join our cause.”

“This again? The answer is no.”

“See, you don’t know do you? What we’re trying to accomplish is no simple cause havoc to any random location. We’re here to destroy the magic schools. We’re here to reform the magic world to the way it needs to be.”

“And why would I want to join that?”

“Think about the world that you can create if we show everyone our powers. We can make a society that is accepting and understanding. One that doesn’t fear something different. One that doesn’t make an outcast of you because they feel inferior or fear your potential. One that is molded to whatever we want.”

“That’s crazy. You intend on ruling society through fear and destruction.”

“And the current system isn’t doing that themselves? I know you all don’t believe the current system is right.”

“Yes, but changes must be made through peace, not destroying anyone and anything that gets in the way.”

“True, but our way is more assured. Your way is reliant on the other party to comply.” Agrius approached Yoshiko.

“So I ask you again, do you want to join us? You are better than these fools.”

“I refuse.”

“Disappointing, but that’s fine. You’ll see soon enough that you can’t do anything.” Yoshiko drew her wand and was ready to attack. Then a dark shroud popped up in front of Agrius and a person walked out. Riko glared at the person as she became recognizable. She moved in front of Yoshiko and stared daggers into the approaching woman.

“Oh, why such an angry look? Honestly, you are such a nuisance.”

“I’ll kill you. I remember what you did.”

“Oh my, you’re so scary. But I’m not here to fight you sadly.”

“Then why show yourself?”

“Because the boss lady said so. We’re only here to give a proper introduction. I’m Manah in case your girlfriend didn’t tell you.”

A dark shroud appeared a bit further behind Manah and Alise showed up. The rest of Aqours tensed up, seeing their former enemies show up. Alise smirked and approached.

“I see some familiar faces. So nice we get to have this reunion.”

“Oh, and you’re ready to get your ass kicked again?” Maki spoke up and Alise’s expression went from joking to serious as she stared down Maki.

“Oh, don’t worry Red, I’ll remember to kill you.”

“You’re the one that will die or will another arrow through your gut remind you or our strength?” Umi said.

“Aggy, can I kill these bitches?”

“No, we’re only here to scout.”

“Consider you both lucky.”

Agrius called Manah and Alise back. She pointed over at someone and they walked out. Some students tried to stop her, but she didn’t listen. Rin ran up and looked at her but saw her eyes were lifeless.

“She’s bewitched nyaa!”

“Of course. I had her under my control for some time now. It’s nice to have someone on the inside to try and find a friend.”

“Who?”

“Jurogumo. I wanted to get her back, but she was kept and dissected when I located her.”

“It was for our student’s safety.”

“I know and for that, I think this student’s life is a good trade off.”

“Don’t you dare!” Eli yelled out.

“Stop or I’ll end her life right now. I plan on using her so it would be a shame for her to die now.”

Eli stopped, frustrated that she can’t save the student. Agrius told them all that they had two weeks to prepare. After two weeks, her army will show up and attack the school. She also told them that they should evacuate anyone that is too scared too fight. Once that was said her group turned around and began to walk away. Eli charged after with Tsubasa trying to stop her.

“Eli, don’t!”

Agrius flicked her wand behind her back and two bolts shot at Eli’s legs. She fell to the ground as they were turned to stone. Nozomi ran up next.

“Elicchi! How dare you do that to her!”

Nozomi readied to attack then Agrius fired two more bolts at her arms. Nozomi’s arms were now turned to stone.

“Don’t anybody else charge in!” Tsubasa yelled, making sure everyone understood the situation.

“Smart. Listen to your headmistress.”

Soon the three plus the student under Agirus’ control left in a dark shroud. Hanayo, Maki, and Umi ran up to check on Nozomi and Eli. Maki instructed Umi and Hanayo to help get them to the infirmary so she can start treating their petrification. Erena pulled Rin and Kotori over to instruct them on what to do now. Anju, Nico, and Honoka got the students to go back to their houses. Tsubasa looked at the spot where Agrius disappeared into and then looked back at her school.

“We need to hold a meeting. All faculty to meet in the faculty chambers once everything has settled down and Eli and Nozomi are cured!”


	43. Preparations

All of the faculty members had gathered in the faculty chamber. They all sat at their seats with the big nine in front. Tsubasa, Erena, and Anju stood up front with Eli and Nozomi bowing down to apologize for their mistake. Tsubasa assured them that it was fine as there were no casualties in the end. Though, having one of their students bewitched and taken was concerning.

Tsubasa began their meeting and discussed the current situation and what’s coming in two weeks. The atmosphere was tense as they all hear about the different possibilities that could play out during their war. The main priority was the students. They’re young and this fight can end up with a number of them killed. So, the question was what will they do about their students. They know that some were not adept in fighting, some might not be able to act quickly in battle, some might have low confidence, etc.

An evacuation was a likely option. This would lower their numbers and their chances of winning, but it would gurantee that their students will live. Even if it’s a temporary reassurance, they’ll place their trust that some other school out there can find a way to win. The fact is, they have no doubt they’ll fight to the very end to prevent this evil from spreading.

“So what do we do about the students Headmistress Tsubasa?”

“Umi, you’ve trained them in defense. How much more work do you think you can get done within two weeks?”

“With how I scheduled things out, I should be able to train them to put up a good fight. With them fighting together, it’ll increase their odds of winning their respective fights. The issue is that I won’t be able to train them all alone.”

“No problem, all teachers will train their groups of students. Maki, what about the petrification?”

“My team and I can work to produce some tonics for everyone. Of course with the time limit, I doubt we’ll be able to make enough to give everyone backup vials. Petrification tonics take a while to make as stabilizing the compound is an intricate process.”

“Make as much as you can. The medical team for the battle needs whatever they can get to treat the injured. Kotori, Rin, Nico.”

“Yes Headmistress.”

“Talk to your residence. Get a feel for their current mindsets and ask about what they want to do. If some don’t feel confident enough to fight, then we’ll prepare them to leave ASAP. The rest will be trained and that should give Maki a good estimate on how much tonics she’ll need to make.”

“Understood nyaa.”

“Should we gather everyone to the dining hall after?”

“Yes, I’ll need to give a speech about out predicament. I’ll also give one before the war to keep morale positive. Alright, you’re all dismissed.”

The faculty went their ways to prepare for the inpending war. Kotori, Rin, and Nico called their residents for a meeting. They explained the situation and it was evident that there was some fear among the students. It was understandable as some didn’t think something like this could happen during their time as students. Death was something many of them haven’t thought about as they were young. The Housemistresses could sense the morale among the students was mixed. The 4th and 5th years were resolute and had no problems with the war. Some mixed feelings were among the 3rd years. As expected, the most stress was among the 1st and 2nd years. They’re still early in their education at Uranohoshi, so the prospect of dying was shocking. It wasn’t quite as such to Aqours as they had their experiences with the enemy.

With the house meeting over, all the students made their way to the dining hall. Once settled, Tsubasa began to speak to the students. It was a quick recap of the things the Housemistresses told, then Tsubasa said some things to inspire the students a bit to lift their spirits. Ultimately, Tsubasa told them that they all had a choice. The students that want to stay and fight will stay. Those that don’t should tell the faculty a soon as they can so they can arrange for them to leave for their safety. They were told to spend the rest of the day to think about it and to take their time, but to still make their decisions in a timely manner as they have to prepare for the war.

As the days pass, the school became something similar to a military training camp. All the students were going through training and spars. Maki, her team, Hanayo, and some students were making as much tonics, medicine, and healing salves as they could. Riko was helping out with making the tonics when Tsubasa called her into her office. Riko wasn’t sure what the Headmistress would want with her as she headed into the office.

“Thank you for coming on short notice.”

“It nothing really, but why did you want to see me Headmistress Tsubasa?”

“There’s something I wanted to see.”

“What is it?”

“Tell me; did anything strange happen when you and Yoshiko combined your attacks?”

“Not really, no.”

“Hmmm.” Tsubasa eyed Riko, thinking of something that could help her. She wasn’t sure, but she could see a bit of herself in Riko. Though she’s still a 1st year, there's definitely something there that could set her apart. Tsubasa thought of something to see if her hunch was right. “Would you like to learn a spell from me?”

“What!? A spell from you? Are you sure I’m someone worth your time?”

“You wouldn’t be here now would you?”

“Oh, right.”

“This spell isn’t a high level one; in fact it’s derived from a more advanced spell I can use. The effect won’t be as big as mine, but in the right situation, it can have a big effect. This is something you won’t learn from a classroom.”

“I’d be honored to learn from the Headmistress herself. What is this spell by the way?”

“I’ll tell you when we begin the lesson, meet me an hour from now on the balcony east of my office.”

For the rest of the time till the battle, Riko went to Tsubasa to learn. Yoshiko took notice and decided to let it be as she took time on her own to practice dark magic. The rest of Aqours trained hard too. Dia and Kanan would lead their training outside of the time with Umi or Eli. They couldn’t let up, knowing that losing wasn’t an option and pushed past their fatigue to continue training. It was a surprise when Saint Snow showed up and said that they’re joining in. They said it was fine since they kind of owe Aqours one and that their manager is working hard to get them another long vacation after this. As soon as they arrived, they were ready to join in on the training.

The day before the deadline, the school has changed. There were medical rooms made throughout campus for treatments and there were some points supply points around campus. The mood was serious as the students enjoyed one last day of a somewhat normal atmosphere. Some talked, some chose to to keep quiet to preapare, and some went through some personal rituals to get ready. What was amazing was that all the students chose to stay and fight. No one wanted to leave as they won’t be able to live with themselves if they left their friends. One final meal at the dining hall, one final night time snacks and chatter, one final goodnight before they went to sleep.

The day arrived and everyone went to eat breakfast before gearing up for the approaching fight. Riko washed her face in the bathroom and took deep breaths to calm herself. She went into Yoshiko’s room to find Yoshiko sitting on her bed, staring into the floor. Riko sat down next to Yoshiko and pulled her into a hug. Yoshiko kept looking at the floor and a kiss to her head made her look over. Riko gave her a smile and that lightened Yoshiko’s mood a bit as she gives a small smile back. A knock on their door was the sginal that it was time.

All of the students assembled to their spots, across the front of the school. Tsubasa gave one final speech that was met with a loud roar as everyone is ready. Tsubasa gave a smile and stepped down to her group. Honoka, Nico, Kotori, Umi, Maki, Hanayo, Rin, Eli, Nozomi, Erena, and Anju moved and stood around Tsubasa. They put their wands to their chests and closed their eyes. Everyone looked over at them and was wondering what was going on. Tsubasa began to chant and after a bit she began to glow. “Yggdrigsal’s Soul Surge”. The eleven ladies around Tsubasa pointed their wands at Tsubasa and they began to glow in a light similar to Tsubasa’s as the light transferred over. Eventually the light faded and their eyes had a faint glow to them.

“Wh-what’s that?” Ruby asked.

“One of the Headmistresses spells.” A teacher walked up and answered. “This is a spell she uses only for the eleven people currently around her. She’s essentially giving them her magic energy to extend their abilities a bit. Knowing this will be a long battle, it’ll help them stamina wise. It also connects them spiritually as they can feel each others current wellbeing. So if one goes down in a battle, then the others will know it and have the location of where it happened.”

“That’s impressive.” Dia said

“Yes, but the drawback is that the Headmistress is giving up most of her ability to fight herself. If she goes down then the link breaks and in turn the connected parties will suffer the pain that she suffers. Also, the connected parties will be extremely fatigued shortly after the spell ends.”

“Makes sense, since Headmistress Tsubasa is their source of this power.”

“That’s why it’s imperative we protect the Headmistress at all costs. She and the other eleven are the best we have.”

Erena, Anju, and Honoka walked to the front and began to summon a few golems to help out. Tsubasa later joined and began another chant. After a while, she created a barrier around the school. Some sweat can be seen dripping down her forhead as Honoka rushed over to check on Tsubasa. Tsubasa said she was okay and reassured the rest of her group. Then the air got heavy as they sensed danger approaching.

A massive army approached the school from across the plain leading to the docks. A bunch of witches wearing the familiar cloak, but unhooded, can be seen. In the air were harpies, behind them were some golems being raised, and behind them were spiderlings. The school body watched as they approached, some breaths were heavy, some began to sweat, some shook a bit, but they all stood firm. Coming out to the front of the army came Agrius with Manah, Alise, Celean and the new Jurogumo.

“Uranohoshi, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance again. As you can see, I’ve brought a bunch of friends to the party and I see you have also. This will not be some game you play at school as there are real life consequences that will come from this. So I ask this one final time, will you surrender or at the very least join us. We always welcome new recruits as you can see that one of yours has already done. If you don’t then I’m afraid death awaits you. So, what will it be?”

“We won’t surrender. We’ll fight to the end Agrius.” Tsubasa answered loudly, a calm but confidant look she showed.

“Shame, then you will die today and let history show that this is where the new world order began.”

Agrius looked at her four commanders and they returned ready looks. She then looked at her army and they were ready to go. She raised her wand and charged an attack. She then fired a dark energy ball at the barrier. It was stopped by the barrier, but the goal wasn’t to destroy the barrier. It was to signal the beginning of the war as the army began to charge forward.


	44. It Begins

The dark army charged forward as witches, golems, spiderlings, and harpies began to attack the barrier. They started to spread out to widen their attack. Agrius, Manah, and Alise watched before they disappeared into the shadows with “Shadow Step”. Celean took to the sky to lead the harpies and Jurogumo led the spiderlings. All kinds of spells begin to pelt the barrier from elemental bolts, fireballs, lightning, ice spikes, earth spikes, beams, etc.

Everyone braced themselves, waiting for the inevitable fight once the barrier is breached. An opening opened up suddenly and just as quickly as it opened, a giant water arrow fired through it, before the hole closed up. The water arrow splits into smaller arrows and rained down on the enemies as they fell from being struck down. Some of them began to lose form and turned into energy particles, revealing there are clones within the mix.

Golems got to the barrier and began pounding away at it. Punches and laser beams hit the barrier as the fizzing of the barrier destroying the attacks can be heard. The arms of the golems began to crack before they broke. The summmoner of the golems restored their arms as they continued to attack. Several more openings were made above and more attacks funneled through from Umi, Eli, and Maki. Barriers and veils were deployed to block the incoming attacks.

Agrius appears and shot a gray beam at the barrier. Cracking can be heard as the spot the blast was hitting started to turn into stone before it expels the petrification. Agrius squints a bit before she starts adding dark energy into her attack. The fizzing of a laser could be heard as the attack begins to widdle the barrier a bit. After a signal, all the watiches began to fire bolts and beams at the barrier. Booms and pops can be heard as the attacks rained down. Tsubasa began to sweat as she begins to shake a bit from the onslaught Honoka ran up to her to check on her.

“Tsubasa!”

“I’m fine Honoka.”

“You don’t have to keep the barrier up. We can handle them.”

“No, I’ll keep this up as long as I can. The least I can do is waste some of their energy.”

“Honoka may be right Tsubasa.” Nozomi said. “You’re already low on stamina with “Yggdrasil’s Soul Surge” and the barrier adds more stress to you. You won’t be able to fight for long if this keeps up.”

“Hah, I’m the Headmistress of the school; I have to put everything I got to defend it.”

“If you fall then we’ll feel the effects of it too. So its best that you conserve your energy for when you really need it.”

Tsubasa thought about what Nozomi said and she was right.There’s no way that she can fall as she’s the symbol of hope for everyone here. Even then, Tsubasa was set on making the enemy waste away their energy trying to get through. Whatever advantage they can get is worth it knowing the numbers are against them.

“I agree with what you said Nozomi. But still, I’ll hold out for as….guuh” A loud boom can be heard as Honoka rushed over to Tsubasa who feel to her knees. They looked over to see a large spell circle in the air and a huge blast of dark energy shooting from it. Looking behind it, they can see Agrius, Manah, and Alise casting it. Shortly after, the barrier began to give way as the attack subsides and cracks formed around the area of impact. Then it breaks open and the enemies began to pour in. Other parts of the barrier began to crack open and Tsubasa at this point had to release the barier.

“Everyone stay at your assigned areas and fight together to quell the enemy. If someone gets injured then one person carries them away while the others cover. Do not let them break your formations, steel your will and mind. This fight is for our future.” Umi and Eli commanded the students and teachers as they all got to postions and began attacking the evil witches. A storm of bolts came from both sides as they crossed each other.

The golems came rushing through as they broke through into the school grounds. Erena and Honoka commanded their own to fight against them. In the air, Kotori and Anju led the air battalion against the harpies. Nozomi, Rin, and Nico took to the sides of the school and led their groups against the foot soldiers. Lastly, Maki and Hanayo took care of support from inside the main building, coming out to help whenever they can.

Tsubasa was escorted inside with three teachers protecting her. They got went to the third floor and into a watchroom lined with pillars and windows. Tsubasa instructed the teachers to cover the exits while she observes the situation and provide information to the others. Tsubasa sees that the enemies have made progress onto the school grounds and are fighting in groups across the front. The students and faculty are fending them off right now, but the more dangerous enemies are approaching. A harpy suddenly descends in front of the window and screeches. It barely had time to do anything else as a light beam pierces its heart and it fell to the ground below. With the harpy gone, Tsubasa returned to what she was doing.

“Hey, take a group and find that Headmistress. If she goes down, then that’ll dramatically drop their morale.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Manah issued some orders to some groups of evil witches as they dispersed in search for their target. She observed the battlefield carefully taking note of whats happening. So far, the school body are staying within the school grounds. Nobody is straying too far from their groups. The teachers are at the front leading the respective groups. The main nineteachers and Deputy Headmistresses are spread across the field. Alise came up from behind to check up on her.

“What now?”

“We continue the push. They’re holding their own but it will soon break. Then we..”

Manah stopped midway when she felt something familiar. A smirk came on her face as she found who she’s been looking for. In blink of an eye, Manah disappeared in a dark veil. Alise sighed as her partner left her. She stood there to think a quick bit. An idea came to her and she created two summoning circles in front of her. Two giant dogs rose up from the ground. They had dark grayish fur and dark red eyes. Blood can be seen dripping from their teeth as they barked aggressively. Alise gave them a command to find the main nine teachers and kill them. They left and Alise went to where Manah was.

Saint Snow was part of the front guard as they fought of against all sorts of enemies. Sarah erected an ice wall and Leah made spikes pop out from it as the enemies got close. Then two gusts of ice wind were fired from the sisters, blowing away the enemies in front of them. A web flung out and got Sarah’s right arm. Leah cuts the web with a spike and shoots another at a spiderling. A couple more jumped down from the top of the ice wall and charged in. The sisters stood back to back and fired bolts at the spiderlings. Switching back and forth, covering each others blind spot, they danced around each other taking down their targets. Then fire blasts shot from above as harpies dropped down some witches in front of Saint Snow. Sarah and Leah looked at each other then exchanged nods as they began to channel their next attack.

Some stone pillars and an archway collapsed as they get hit with energy blasts. Nico saw the army of spiderlings pushing in and told her group to back up and to keep attacking. Webs were shot into the air and at them. Nico burned down some of the webs shots and the rest were dodged. A strong gust blows by Nico making her shield herself. When she recovers thick strings of web shot past her and latches onto a few students. Nico turns around to see bigger spiderlings with the webs wrapped around their hands pull in the students. She shoots at the webs, but they didn’t cut. Then a splat of purple liquid lands next to her as she sees it sizzle on the ground.

 “Razor Maelstrom”. Multiple energy spikes formed around Nico and shot towards the horde of spiderlings. It pierces through the horde and hits the bigger ones while some spikes cut the webbing. A wall was erected to stall for some time as she gave orders to her group.

“They can spit venom, make sure to protect yourself. The webs from the bigger ones are tougher to cut so be careful not to get caught.”

Eli shot lightning bolts at a couple of witches. Some of the clones got in front to take the hits while the real ones continue to push forward. A couple of dark blasts get sent Eli’s way as she raises an fence of pure electricity in front. Aiming up in the air, Eli created a lightning cloud and shot bols into it as it gets bigger. Once ready, Eli pushes it forward over the group. Rumbles can be heard as the cloud hoversw over before a huge lightning bolt reigns down on the group. The cloud carries the attack over more of them as they get fried. In the middle of the attack, Eli saw one particular witch create a lightning rod of sorts from dark energy. She appeared to stab her wand into it and the lightning blasts got absorbed into the rod.

When Eli’s spell ended, the witche’s rod was howling with lightning. She points it at Eli and a cannon of lightning shot straight out. The force ripped apart the ground and hurls past Eli, destroying a wall of one of the buildings. She resadied another as Eli began to run. A whip warpped around Eli’s arm. Eli looks at the holder, then looked back at the other witch, and then to the sky. Just as the witch shot another cannon of lightning, Eli shot the ground and was pushed into the air. A harpy was flying by and she grabbed onto it while holding her wand in her mouth. The witch with the whip gets hit and the whip lets go of Eli. The harpy begins to descend to get Eli off of it. Just before it slams into the ground, Eli let go and the harpy flies off. A witch approaches Eli as she recognizes that she was the one that absorbed her attack.

“That’s an interesting trick you did there.”

“Compliments won’t stop me from killing you.”

“I’m just giving you credit.”

“Yes, but it will get me nowhere unless I have your dead body to show for it. Now would you kindly just die without so much of a struggle? I can amplify your attacks that I absorb so I’m stronger than you.”

“Hmph, we’ll see about that.”

Yoshiko was taking care of a few witches herself. They chase after her as she tries to keep her distance from them. Unfotunately for them, Yoshiko was ready as dark chains came up and binded them on the spot. With them immobile, Yoshiko shot “Breath of the Northern Tundra” and froze them. Yoshiko was about to go to another area when a chill ran down her spine. She can hear some whispers in her head. ‘ _here…find me…..fight me.._ ’. She tried to figure out what was going on and felt something inside the school. Yoshiko began to run to the main school building, following her instincts. Suddenly she gets hit with a fireball. She rolls on the ground before stopping and looking over to see Manah approach.

“Hello~, it’s so nice to see you again.”

“I wasn’t really looking forward to see you.”

“That’s a bit rude don’t think?”

“Whatever, I’m in a hurry here so..”

“You will go nowhere. Last time I wasn’t expecting you to be dangerous. Now, I’ll be sure not to drop my guard.”

A magic circle appears in front of Manah and fire comes shooting out of it. Yoshiko erects an ice pillar and shoots lightning back at Manah. Manah absorbs her attack with a dark funnel then shoots it right back. Yoshiko casts a dark veil to negate it and follows up with and upward slash of her wand, sending a dark blade at Manah. Manah dives out of the way and sees Yoshiko begin to run away. A whip of dark energy scream passes Manah as she looks back to see Alise.

Yoshiko's arm gets caught by the whip as her momentum stops. Alise pulls Yoshiko back, but Yoshiko cuts the whip with an energy blade. It was then followed with with energy botls as a fire fight between her and the other two broke out. Bolts flew pass them as they dodged the attacks. Yoshiko saw Alise cast a spell while Manah shot bolts. Alise used “Hell Hound” and a dog of fire rushed through. Yoshiko luckily raised a line of ice pillars in the way. The dog of fire broke through the pillars until the last one, where it fizzes out. The last pillar gave way and Yoshiko runs through the falling debris and faint smoke with her “Shadow Boost”. She has an energy blade formed and got to Manah. Manah mangaes to block the attack with her dagger. Her dagger begins to get cut through before Alise hits Yoshiko with an energy blast.

Alise and Manah ran at Yoshiko who was getting up. Then a plant root grabs them both and slams them onto the ground. A meteor dropped down from above. Manah pulls Alise in and creates a dark shell around them. The metoer hits the shell and creates a quick flash of energy. When the flash of light ended, the shell was still intact and Manah and Alise emerged from it. They looked over and saw the rest of Aquors heading their way. Alise sees Yoshiko run away into the building and was about to chase when a long fire wall blocked her path.

“Riko-san, go after Yoshiko-san.”

“On it!” Riko followed after Yoshiko on the side that the fire wall wasn’t blocking.

“You all are always in the way.” Manah exclaimed.

“We’re not letting you get to Yoshikocchi.”

“You’ll have to go through us if you want to go any further.”

“Hoh? Did you all get good all of a sudden?”

“You’ll see, we didn’t sit around all this time.”

“Fine, then I hope you don’t disappoint.” Alise created a summoning circle and another dog rose out from it.  “Meet Cerberus, she’s my new dog after your friend killed Jabberwock.”

“Shouldn’t she have three heads instead of one?”

“The other two are roaming around the school, so don’t worry about that.”

“Enough! Let’s get rid of these brats now.”


	45. Annoying

The dark army made some progress in some parts of the school. At the Azalea residence, some of them got into the dorm and are having a fire fight with the students. In the halls, witches hid around corners and in rooms as they peeked out to fire down the hall at each other. In the lounge areas, some barriers were made for cover as bolts of energy flew across the room. A sudden quake stopped the action momentarily before a golem falls through the front entrance. When the dust settled, Erena was on top with an ice spear impaled into the golems head. She shot an ice wave at the enemies and temporarily forze them, giving the students and faculty an opening to push back.

A rain of water arrows came from the sky as some of the evil witches get slain, while others created shields to protect themselves. Umi moved on top of a pillar to get a view of the battlefield as she readies more water arrows to shoot. A boulder gets tossed her way and misses. She looks down to see a golem charging at her. Umi aims her wand to the ground beneath and a magic circle appeared. The golem steps on it and water tentacles come out and squeezes the golem and crushing it.

A fire arrow comes from behind Umi, but she points her wand behind her and a water shield blocks the attack. She looks back to see a witch with a mantle standing there. The witch made a pillar and got on even level with Umi. Umi turned around to face her and they stared each other down as they slowly tightened their grips on their wands. They both slowed their breaths, focusing everything onto the opponent in front of them.  The witch licked her lips slowly as Umi kept her stone, cool look. Then the two flicked their wands forward and two giant energy arrows shot out and collided, creating a shockwave that can be heard and felt in the nearby area.

Nozomi gets slammed into a wall as a buff witch squeezes at her throat. Nozomi was choking as the witch tightened her grip. Nozomi shot a wave blast at the ground to make the witch lose her footing. As her grip loosened, Nozomi kicked the witch back then blasted her with a light beam. The witch regained herself and saw Nozomi running away. She chased after for a bit before stepping on a magic circle that blew up beneath her. She staggers to her left from the blast and onto another magic circle that exploded then another one a bit behind her. Quickly, she stopped herself from moving and surveyed the ground to see magic circles laid out across the ground.

Nozomi looked on as the witch was trapped. Nozomi began to channel her next attack while the witch created an armor of dark energy. She charged through the mine field, but the last one wasn’t a mine. A bright light flashed in front of the witch and disoriented her as her eyes stung from the light. When she got her vision back, there were balls of light floating around her. Nozomi held her wand up then swiped down. “Mine Singularity”, the balls of light shot down in a cluster of explosions on the witch. After the last bit were done, the witch laid on the ground motionless.

Rin ran through a crowd of evil witches in her panther form, taking down whoever she could. She pounced from one witch to another as they tried to keep up with her speed. A group converged on Rin as she made her escape. A wall rose up and Rin ran up the wall a bit before backflipping off the wall. While in the air, Rin returned back to human form and spun around, shooting wind blades at the surrounding enemies. They fell as Rin landed on her feet. Looking around, Rin can hear some students and faculty fighting nearby and made her way over.

Arriving at the scene, Rin saw some of the faculty get struck down as injured fighters tried to retreat to safety. The enemies pushed forward as the students scramble to get to cover and protecting the injured. Rin fired a huge wind blade across the field, keeping the dark army from advancing. Then, Rin ran to the front and created a number of wind fists and punched through some of the enemies. The healthy students provided supporting fire as Rin fought at the front.

Manah ran through the halls as Dia chased after her. A lightning blast came from behind a support beam as Manah ducked under it. Another one came and Manah absorbed it this time. Kanan lobs some water bombs at Manah as she took a left turn to avoid them. Mari was right there, but Manah was ready for it as she had her wand pointed in front and hit Mari with an energy blast. Kanan came from the corner and Manah fired the lightning blast she absorbed at Kanan. A wall of fire rose up to block the attack. Once it dropped, Kanan charged in with a water blade.

Manah parries it to the right, and slams Kanan into the beam. Dia comes up and fires a fire bolt. Manah backsteps as she counters the bolt with one of her own. The two exchanged fire bolts until Manah’s back hits a wall. Dia then fires a fireball at the opening. Manah shadow steps and pops up in front of Dia and knocks her away with an energy wave. Dia was pushed into Kanan’s arms as Kanan caught her in one arm and shot a water torrent at Manah. Dia swung around Kanan’s back and fires a fire blast. Manah got ready to counter when a lightning circle appeared above her.

Stepping to her right to avoid the attacks, Manah also created a shield in front of her. The lightning and fire missed, but the water torrent hits her as it pushes her back. The force of the torrent gets bigger as Manah can hear her shield begin to give way. Soon, her shield breaks and the attack slams her into the wall. Manah got up from her knees to see the three 2nd years charge their next attack. Manah points her wand in three different spots and chains came out and latched onto Kanan and Dia. The third missed Mari as she rolled out of the way. The chains began to glow and Kanan and Dia begin to grimace in pain as they felt their energy get sucked out from them.

Mari looks over to Manah who has disappeared. Mari twirls her wand around above her, and a swirl of lightning covered her. Then it expanded out for a couple of feet before disappearing. A faint static noise can be heard and Mari shot a lightning blast in the direction. It hits a wall and Manah appears from it. Caught off guard from being detected, Manah didn’t see a lightning orb float down next to her before it entered her vision. The orb shocked her and Mari blasted Manah back. She then quickly went over to Kanan and Dia and charged a stream of lightning and destroyed the chains.

Kanan thought of something and told Dia and Mari. While planning, they heard a loud ghostly howl coming and peaked out from the beam to see a ghost-like attack coming at them. They ran out as the attack destroys the beam and the wall behind it. They looked at where the attack went and back to where it came from. As they looked, they noticed the trail that it went on was devoid of color and life and looked like it would give away from the slightest touch.

Dark blasts headed their way as they scramble around. Dia and Kanan fired a fire and water blast at each other and mist began to form in the area. Mari began to channel as the entire room becomes covered in mist. Manah emerged from the ground and calmed herself as she tries to pick up their presence. She felt something to her northwest and fired some spikes in that direction. Manah didn’t hear anything hit, so she began to walk slowly. As she walked close to a spot, she heard some buzzing sound. She stopped and looked closely at the floor to see some electric traps placed on the ground.

“Hmph, nice try.”

Manah destroyed a trap with a dark spike. The trap was destroyed, but it set off a nearby one as it buzzes out. Then the next one and then next one; the traps just buzzed in a chain, leading deeper into the mist and at a louder frequency. It began to bother Manah a bit as all she can hear now is electricity going off. Something shiny appeared and Manah didn’t know what it was until she felt a force coming her way.

“Shit!”

Kanan, Dia, and Mari used “Tri-color Nova” and shot at Manah. She took a step back, and felt her foot go through the ground a bit. It was the spot where her attack passed through. Manah created a dark veil to block and it did momentarily before the nova broke through and smashed her through the wall.

Tsubasa surveyed the school grounds as she sees some groups break through and get into the buildings. She issued orders to messengers as they conveyed them to the groups on the field. Outside of a few harpies getting through the windows, it was relatively calm on her end. Until she heard shouting at the stairway leading up her current location. One of her guards went to check it out. It didn’t take long before spells can be heard being casted and sounds of impact from attacks. The door gets blown off and bolts flew in as Tsubasa took to cover.

The first witch came through and was struck down by Tsubasa’s guard. Then the wall gets blown down and a guard gets blown out the window. The last guard tried to get to cover as she gets shot at. Tsubasa created a shield to defend her. Then she slams the shield at the enemies, knocking some down. Another witch shot spikes at Tsubasa. Tsubasa rasied a shield for herself and she pointed her wand to the ground. The witches began to attack Tsubasa’s shield. The last guard stalled them by fighting back but was eventually killed. It was enough time as the ground beneath the evil witches’ glew, than exploded. With the enemies dead, Tsubasa began to move to a different location.

“Well well. The Headmistress is all by herself. Do you need some help?” More enemies approached.

“Against you all? Probably not.”

“You’re pretty confident for someone trying to catch her breath.”

“Oh, don’t worry too much about that. Paperwork is more challenging than you all.”

‘Heh, funny. Kill her!”


	46. Nice to Meet You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late birthday to our Fallen Angel Yohane! May she bless us all with good fortune.
> 
> I was hoping to do something for the occasion but couldn't really come up with something. And now, I'm reminded that I need to think of a short story for a week long celebration event of YohaRiko for the YohaRiko Cult. Hopefully I can come up with something.

“Hah, hah, come on, we gotta get to safety.”

“Hurgh….just leave me. I’m slowing you down.”

“No, I won’t…..kyaaaa!”

A few harpies suddenly dropped to the ground in front of the students. They carefully looked to see if it’s dead. The harpy budged and the student who wasn’t injured drew out her wand. It was only for a moment, as the harpy dies shortly after. They sighed in relief that they don’t have to fight right now and a few blasts hit the ground behind them.

“What are you two doing?! Get to the medical area now!”

A group of students came by as they were retreating to get treated. One came up to help carry the other injured student. They all made their way to the west building when a dark witch appeared in front of them. She knocked a few of the students back and was ready to kill. Then a harpy fell on her followed by a wind blade. The students looked up to see Kotori as she told them to go. With the students inside, Kotori flew back up to Anju.

Anju was being chased by a few witches. They fired bolts and blasts at her as she dodged them the best she can. Anju prepared her spell and turned around to attack. Rings of energy came from her wand as a screeching can be heard. The pursuing parties slowed down as the screeching hurts their ears. The rings got close before spinning around and exploding, knocking some of the witches off their brooms.

A harpy flew up behind Anju and charged in with its talons. Anju flew to the side a bit. The harpy flew past her and before it could stop, Kotori pierces it with a wind bullet. Kotori and Anju looked around as more harpies and witches flew their way. They looked at each other and flew in the northwest direction away from the rest of their group.

The rest were holding their own as they flew around, fighting the evil witches and harpies. Stray attacks hit parts of the school buildings. Some students were chased as they maneuvered their way around campus to break away. A couple of witches were fighting near the back of the school when Kotori and Anju flew past them. They stopped and looked at what just happened. Then they looked the other way to see a big group fly through.

Once, Kotori and Anju got a good distance away, they began to fly in a circle together. Their wands lit up as a small ring of wind began to swirl. When their pursuers got near, they stopped and pointed their wands up. A giant tonado formed, sucking in their enemies. Those that got caught ended up getting sliced by the swirling wind. The strong winds could be felt near the school as howls can be heard from the tornado. Anju and Kotori made their way back to the school as thei tornado continues to ravage the enemies. Just as they made it back on campus, Celean came flying through with wind around her arms and manages to cut their arms. They grimaced a bit and looked towards Celean as she flaps her wings harder and readied her next attack. A slight feeling of worry came as they sensed something.

“Damn, Tsubasa is in trouble!” Erena exclaimed.

“I’m on it!”

Honoka made a break for the main building. A golem got in her way as Honoka jumps up in the air. “Out of my way!” She swings her wand down and giant earth spike impales the golem down the middle before it breaks apart. A couple of witches show up and fire at Honoka. She raises an earth shield and prepared her next attack. The firing stopped and screams can be heard. Honoka looks out from the shield to see the witches getting crushed by roots from the ground. Hanayo came out and told Honoka to go. She thanked Hanayo as she ran by. The roots threw the witches away as more approached. Hanayo blew on her wand and a mist began to form in the area the evil witches were running to. They ran through the mist and suddenly stopped. The ones that didn’t go into the mist wondered what was wrong and then they saw bodies drop.

“What the hell?”

“A poison mist?”

“Looks like it. Theres a slight different coloring to it from regular mist. The main give away is the small crystal like lights floating around. Easily missed if you don’t observe it.”

“Then lets get aroun….. gaaaahhh!”

The remaining witches get grabbed by roots sprouting up from the ground while they were distracted and were slammed to the ground repeatedly. The mist dispersed and Hanayo walked up. She wanted to ask a few questions before finishing them off.

Maki was treating a couple of the injured when someone came in with an urgent message. Maki went out to confirm the report while leaving the rest to her team. She walked out to see something familiar. There were some witches hunched over. Some were from the dark army, some were slain faculty members, and some were slain students. They all had the same look, their pupils were gone, and there was dak energy flowing around them. Maki cursed her luck and had to alert the rest.

“Hey, get this message to everyone. Careful, as some of the dead are being resurrected. Find the caster and kill them immediately. Most importantly, don’t hesitate to strike down the ones that were our own.”

The messenger left to relay what Maki said to the rest. Maki swung her wand in front of her from left to right as a blanket of fire formed. It broke into fire bullets and sprayed into the group of undead. Bodies began to burn as they were lit on fire from the attack. Carefully watching, Maki spotted a lone energy flow off to the far right side and saw it go behind a tree. A fireball was sent in that direction and destroyed it, revealing the source. Maki smirked as she readied a meteor attack.

Cerberus began to charge and fire surrounded it as it went in. It collided with an “Onikuma Rush” from Hanamaru. Cerberus broke through and continued its charge. Hanamru got out of the way as it crashed into a wall. Fire spikes flew at it, piercing through it a bit. It shoots a fireball in Ruby’s direction, which was blocked by a fire wall. It howls and circles of fire form in front of it before shooting out flames. They break through the fire wall and Ruby rolls out of the way.

Hanamaru created a circle of light in the air. It begins to rotate and bullets of light shot out. It trails after Cerberus as it runs around to avoid it. It wall runs for a moment before leaping into the air at Hanamaru. Flames begin to surround it as Hanamaru creates a barrier around her. Cerberus lands on top of the barrier, causing a small burst of fire to spread out. The barrier cracked from the impact and a fire strike from Cerberus breaks it. Hanamaru was ready and fired a light beam, blasting Cerberus away from her.

As Cerberus lands on its feet, a phoenix came from behind. Alise dropped down from the stairway and absorbed the phoenix and fires it right back at Ruby. Before Ruby could escape, chains came from the wall near her and wrapped her up. She looks up at the phoenix approaching as she struggles to break free from the chains. You comes up from behind and creates water circles to cancel out the phoenix. Boulders were shot Alise’s way as she hops on Cerberus and begins to run.

They ran to the stairs and made thir way up. At the top of the stairs were circles of light, beginning to spin. They shoot out multiple rays of light as Cerberus stops and jumps off the stairs. The circles of light began to follow as Cerberus dodges them. Alise turns around and shot dark lightning at each circle to dispel them. A water wall shoots up, blocking their path as Cerberus stops. Chika created a few earth fists and slammed them to the ground. Cerberus manages to dodge them, but they all hit a single spot. Soon, a flurry of fire and light bolts rained down on them.

As Cerberus maneuvers around, Alise scanned around to find her targets. She sees Hanamaru on top of a stairway and shoots a dark energy beam at her. Hanamaru makes a shield to block. Her shield begins to crack as Ruby steps in to and creates a fire shield right behind Hanamaru’s. While Alise wasn’t paying attention, Cerberus spat fireballs at Chika, who was making a run to the other side. It’s sudden movements made Alise lose her balance a bit, forcing her to recast her spell. A ball of fire and light drops in from over the wall in near Alise and Cerberus. They look over and it suddenly bangs in a blinding light.

Cerberus whines as it runs around from the sudden shock. Alise tries to calm it down as she tries to regain her vision. Cerberus runs into a wall and Alise falls off. Feeling around, Alise felt Cerberus and begins to pet her as she calms down. Alise moves her hand around to find Cerberus’ chin and scratches it. Doing a quick head shake to clear her mind, Alise looks up to a sight she didn’t want to see. Before her, she sees a phoenix, water dragon, bear spirit, and earth bull coming in.

“Ahh shit! Cerberus, brace yourself.” Alise quick channels and aims her wand down as a rush of dark energy rises from the ground to block the incoming attacks. They collide and a big surge of energy can be felt across the area. Cerberus begins to howl as it begins to be enveloped in flames while Alise holds off the combined attacks of Ruby, You, Hanamaru, and Chika.

“Yocchan! Wait up!”

Riko continued her pursuit of Yoshiko through the main building. The fightning got inside as Yoshiko ran by and only attacked when enemies got in her way. Following her feeling, Yoshiko made her way to the upper part of the school and stopped as the feeling got stronger at the Headmistress’ chamber floor.

“Yocchan! What the hell? You just separated from us without a word.”

“…….Sorry, its just, I sensed something and it kept calling me.”

“You sensed something?”

“It’s hard to explain, but I can feel her presence.”

“Whose?”

“Agrius’ I think.”

“Is she close then?”

“I think so. Over here.”

Yoshiko went down the corridor. The path is familiar to Riko, since it’s the way she took to train with Tsubasa. They took a right and there was a big door to the left. Opening the door, they found someone standing at the far end of the balcony, looking over a part of the school. Yoshiko and Riko drew their wands and aimed as they approach.

“Welcome young one. I do hope you enjoyed the little party we’re having.” Agrius said in a calm manner.

“It sucks.”

“Well, not all parties go the way you want them. I was hoping you would find me, though I did wish your Headmistress was present also so I can kill her.”

“Sorry, but she’s a busy person. Maybe next time.”

“Shame. I see you’ve brought an unwanted guest." Agrius looked at Riko with a blank look. "And what do you think you’re doing here? This is something that’s between witches who have a knack for dark magic.”

“Yocchan, is important to me! I won’t let her do this alone.”

“Good answer. But, I’m afraid this is out of your capabilities. Please leave now, I promise to take good care of your girlfriend.”

“Not happening.”

“Foolish girl. I guess you’ll see how weak you are soon enough.”

“Just shut up!”

Riko fires the first shot. Agrius deflects it to the side and shoots a needle like dark bullet at Riko. Riko shoots a wind blade to meet the bullet. The bullet pierces through the wind blade. Yoshiko jumps in front to absorb the bullet and shoots it right back, but Agius already disappeared. Yoshiko quickly turned around to aim her wand behind Riko. Riko stood there not realizing Agrius was behind her. There she stood, between Yoshiko and Agrius with Yoshiko in front of her, aiming her wand at Agrius. While Agrius had her wand aimed at Riko’s back.


	47. The Difference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be a bit longer but decided to split the content to make it fit a bit more into the moment of the end of the previous chapter.

** Ch.46 The Difference **

“Those eyes are good. What’s in those eyes? Fear? Anger? There’s something evil in them and yet, it feels controlled. A tamed flame. I wonder how long they’ll stay tamed before she ends up burning herself.”

Manah studied Yoshiko’s eyes as she kept her aim on Riko. Yoshiko was snarling, trying to figure out if she can knock Agrius away before she shot Riko. They stayed put for seconds as Riko processed the current situation. She looked at Yoshiko and noticed Yoshiko would look at her with her eyes then looked down for a brief moment. Riko confirmed she got the idea that Yoshiko had and waited for the signal. When they made eye contact once more, Riko fell to the ground with Yoshiko aiming her wand to the left, towards Riko. Yoshiko fires a dark beam in the spot where Riko once stood to intercept Agrius’ attack. An earth beam hits Yoshiko in the stomach and sends her to the ground.

Agrius chuckled knowing that she just surprised them with her attack. Riko got up and fired a light beam at Agrius, who leaned to the left and shot Riko with an energy wave. Riko staggers back from the attack before she gets her legs swept from under her with a quick earth blast. She falls on the ground and a boulder appears above her and drops. Yoshiko intercepts it with an ice blast, knocking it away. She follows up with another ice blast at Agrius. Agrius shoots a dark star that eats up Yoshikos’s attack and barrels towards her. An ice pillar came to block. The dark star stops momentarily before destoyng the pillar.

Yoshiko was gone and appeared behind Agrius who disappears herself. Agrius appears and Yoshiko disappears again with Agrius following suit. The two shadow stepped around the large balcony and eventually started to attack each other. When they both popped up, they would use energy blasts at one another before shadow stepping again.

Riko tried to follow what was happening but she was barely keeping up with the pace of their movements. She stood there with her wand aimed at spots that Agrius appeared, but she would disappear far too quickly for Riko to cast a spell. A hope of possibly attacking would be when Agrius clashed with Yoshiko. Riko waited for that moment and pre-casted her spell. Again, the problem was if she can figure out where Agrius would show up.

Agrius appears near a tea table with Yoshiko. Agrius attacks with a dark beam as Yoshiko ducks to the left. She created dark chains to wrap around Agrius. This was the moment, Riko turns and shoots a wind cannon at the binded Agrius. Yoshiko gets away as the attack hits Agrius and sends her crashing through the tables and into the wall. Yoshiko began to make her way to Riko to regroup when a fist of dark energy hits her to the side and then slams down on her. Riko ran towards Yoshiko but Agrius shows up in front of her.

Riko attacked with a light beam and missed. Agrius hits her with an energy bolt and shadow steps. Riko would attack and miss Agrius as she continues to move around. Whenever Riko missed, Agrius would counter with some of her own, hitting Riko. A bolt hits her shoulder, then her back, then her side, and continued until an earth blast knocks her into the air. Riko lands on the ground and Agrius steps on Riko and grinds her foot as the sole of her boot digs into Riko’s skin.

A dark beam get shot Agrius’ way as she absorbs it with her dark funnel and looks over at Yoshiko. Yoshiko used “Thor’s Hammer” and fires a lightning blast at Agrius. She also absorbs the attack with little struggle, leaving Yoshiko bewildered. Agrius shoots back the “Thor’s Hammer” at Yoshiko. She quick casts another “Thor’s Hammer” and the two attacks clash. The stalemate lasted for a few seconds before Agrius’ attack broke through and disrupts Yoshiko’s attack. Agrius quickly grabs Riko and shoots her Yoshiko’s way with an earth fist. Riko crashes into Yoshiko as the two roll on the floor.

“Riri….” Yoshiko looks over to Riko who tries to get up. She sees Riko is trying but she isn’t doing well with keeping up with Agrius. Thoughts ran through her mind as she tries to figure out how to turn the tides of their fight. Then she feels something from behind and sees Agrius charge her attack. Yoshiko grabs her wand and crawls over to Riko. A dark cannon fires at the two as Yoshiko raises a dark wall. Yoshiko puts her energy into the wall to make it withstand the attack. Then she decides that she needs to take a risk here, otherwise they’ll lose.

“Yocchan?” Yoshiko aims her wand to herself and calls for “Shadow Boost: Transfer”. Some dark energy came out from Yoshiko and into her wand. It flows in an orb and she points it at Riko.

“Here, take this. It’ll help you keep up with Agrius.”

“Wait, isn’t this dangerous.”

“I trust you’ll overcome whatever the challenge is.”

Riko sees the resolve in Yoshiko’s eyes and decided to accept the shadow boost. Yoshiko aims her wand at Riko and sends the orb of dark energy into Riko. Energy dispersment can be heard from the other saide of the wall. Riko didn’t feel any different and Yoshiko was wondering what was going on.

A few seconds later, it finally hits Riko. She felt her body get heavy. She clutched her chest as it felt like some heavy force is squeezing her heart. Sweat started to drip and she made sounds of agony. Riko was hunched over and felt like throwing up. Yoshiko got near Riko and and held her shoulders.

“Come on Riri! I know you can get through this!”

Riko’s eyes twitched and her breathing got short. She felt Yoshiko next to her as she looks up for reassurance. When she made eye contact, a dark feeling came over her as she reached for Yoshiko’s neck. _“Heh ha hah ha ha ha, kill her. Rid yourself of pain. Return to your old life.”_ Dark thoughts began to appear in her mind. Riko clutched Yoshiko’s neck and began to squeeze. Despite the danger, Yoshiko kept her composure and pleaded with Riko to make it through this. Riko’s grip loosened as she came to grips with what was happening.

“What the hell is this? Is this what Yocchan goes through to use dark magic? Is this what she experienced all those times?” Riko continues to think about everything that Yoshiko went through since she’s met her; trying to suppress the dark emotions trying to take over.

The dark wall began to weaken and Yoshiko decided that she got to go now to give Riko some time. Yoshiko went ahead and fired ice spikes at Agrius. Agrius destroys the ice spikes and shoots an earth beam at Yoshiko. She creates a dark funnel to absorb the attack. Agrius just smiles and continues to put more energy to the attack. Yoshiko absorbed more and more. Her arm began to shake as she felt herself get pushed back. Then her arm began to bleed as it felt like a vessel popped.

“How much can you take young one? You’ll reach the limit of how much you can absorb and the repurcusions won’t be nice.

Agrius was right. Absorbing someone’s attack is a nice ability, but you need to be able to store what you absorb. It happened with Manah where she couldn’t absorb the combined attacks of Dia, Ruby, and Hanamaru. Also with Yoshiko’s ice dragon. There’s a limit that varies from person to person and you have to train in magic retention to improve the mind to expand storage and the body to be able to hold the magic. Going beyond the limit is like having an overflow of magic and that will result in internal damage. The stronger the magic, the more it takes up.

Yoshiko knew her limit was reached and broke off the spell. She gets hit with the beam and falls to the ground. Agrius shadow steps away and Yoshiko quickly gets up and shoots some of the magic she absorbed in the direction of where she felt Agrius would appear. It just misses and the two began to dance with "Shadow Step" again. From the side, Riko was still struggling as she watched on. Her eyes carefully following along with their movements.


	48. Trouble Arises

Sparks flew as Yoshiko shot “Thor’s Hammer”. Agrius raised a stone pillar in front of her to block the attack then sliced the pillar into pieces before sending them Yoshiko’s way. Yoshiko ran to avoid the pieces of stone. She jumps over the last one and fires ice spikes towards Agrius. Agrius absorbs them and fires them back. Yoshiko points her wand forward and hovers her other hand over it. Lightning formed at the tip and then multiple smaller blasts of lightning came out, hitting each of the ice spikes.

Riko started to get up as the pain she felt began to subside. She sees Agrius form magic circles around her and they all shot dark energy at Yoshiko. Riko channeled and used “Nocturnal Requiem”. Agrius looks over at the dragon of light headed her way and forms a barrier around her. This forces her magic circle attacks to end as she had to defend. The dragon engulfed the barrier as Riko watched on. A weird feeling came over her and she aimed her wand on instinct to her right. She fires a wind blast, which was met by an earth blast from Agrius. Agrius had wide eyes for a second at the development.

“Hmmmm. Did she….?”

Agrius shadow steps away and Riko looked towards the corner behind her to find Agrius readying another spell. Riko used multiple “Coup De Grace” spells, hoping to they hit before Agrius could finish. Agrius created a dark wall of energy and sends it forward. The wall absorbs Riko’s attacks and continues towards her. Yoshiko runs up next to Riko and creates a dark barrier. Agrius’ attack clashes with the barrier before it goes through it, leaving Yoshiko and Riko unharmed. Agrius shoots a bolt at Yoshiko as her barrier goes down. Yoshiko ducks out of the way and Agrius shadow steps to the path of her attack. Yoshiko and Riko turn to see her reflect her own attack back. Yoshiko readied to counter, but a burst of earth from below distracted her long enough for the bolt to hit her left arm.

Yoshiko fell back from the shot. Riko came over and saw petrification begin to form on Yoshiko’s arm. She hurries to get a vial of the cure Maki made. An earth wall formed between them as Riko gets pushed away and dropping the vial. Yoshiko picks up her wand and looks at Agrius approaching. Before she could attack, a stone column smashed into her body from above. Yoshiko spits out some blood from the impact. Agrius shoots a bolt at her other arm, petrifying it also. Yoshiko crawls backwards with her legs to get some distance. She tries to get up but her legs get shot and petrified also. Agrius jumps over Yoshiko and picks her head up.

“You fought well. To reward you, I’ll make you into a stone decoration for my room.”

Agrius was ready to finish Yoshiko off before a beam of light cuts in between them. A circle of light forms beneath Yoshiko and a barrier was raised. Agrius looks over at Riko, slightly disgruntled at the interference. Riko used created pillars of light to slam into Agrius. She dodges out of the way and sees Riko begin to run away into the hallways. Agrius made chase leaving Yoshiko within Riko’s barrier.

The wall of dark energy Alise created began to weaken as the combined attacks of You, Hanamru, Chika, and Ruby began to break through. Alise held out as much as she could as she struggles. She felt heat coming from behind her, but was too busy to look back. Then a sudden flash, zoomed by her as Cerberus breaks through in a ball of fire. It charges at the girls and before they could react, You gets hit and slammed into a wall. Chika, Hanamaru, and Ruby looked back to see what the sudden attack was and see Cerberus smash its paw onto You. Hanamaru fired light beams at Cerberus to get its attention. Cerberus tourns around and shoots a fire blast from its mouth. The three girls got out of the way. Ruby looks up and sees Cerberus charging her way. She creates a fire wall, but it was destroyed by Cerberus just as fast and strikes Ruby to the side. Cerberus pounces up into the air to slam down on Ruby. Chika creates an earth fist and knocks Cerberus away in the air.

Cerberus rolls back up onto its feet and locks in on Chika. It howls and magic circles form around it. Soon, fire blasts were shot and Chika raised herself on an earth pillar. Before she noticed, a magic circle formed above her and lightning struck down on her. Chika gets pushed through her pillar. She looks to her right slowly to see Alise breathing hard. A bright light came from ahead of her as fire blasts came her way. Hanamaru created a light barrier to hold off the attack. Alise tries to get Hanamaru, but a fireball came from above her, forcing her to defend. Hanamaru helps Chika up and they retreated before her barrier was destroyed.

As they tried to get to safety, Cerberus jumps in front of them. Chika let go of Hanamaru and got her wand ready. Hanamaru begin to chant as Chika began her attack. She used “Atlas” Punch” a few times to get Cerberus away. It works as Cerberus gets away a bit. She then tried “Grasping Roots” to lock it in place, but Cerberus was able to avoid them. Then some earth boulders were used. Hanamaru signaled Chika that she was ready. The attacks stop and Cerberus began its next charge. Chika raised a wall just as Cerberus came running. It crashes through the wall and onto a circle of light. A light prison formed and trapped Cerberus. Chika raised roots also to keep it in place and one wrapped around its mouth. A slushing sound can be heard from the side. Cerberus looks over and sees a water spear coming at it. The spear begins to rotate and it hit Cerberus. It begins to drill into Cerberus’ body. The spear pierced a bit, but didn’t go that deep until another water spear came behind the first and it pierces through.

The force blows Cerberus in the direction the spears were heading. It lies there, faintly breathing from the attacks. They got ready for the killing blow.

“Not so fast.” Alise held Ruby by the neck with her wand aimed at her. “Kill Cerberus and I kill her.”

The three girls smacked their lips at the development. Alise smirked at their situation and shoots Ruby with lightning. Ruby screams in pain as lightning courses through her body. Hanamaru was ready to run up, but was stopped when Alise moved her wand to Ruby’s heart. Hanamaru grew frustrated as she can’t save Ruby without her being killed. Alise continued with her attack as she electrocutes Ruby more. Hanamaru, Chika, and You watched on helplessly. Then they heard a rumble as Cerberus began to get up. It howls loudly and began to glow a bit.

Manah was growing a bit irritated at how persistent her opponents were. She fires off multiple” Ghoul Fervor” spells as they drain the life away of objects in their paths. Flowers wilted, wood rotted, metal rusted, and stone weakened as the 2nd years ran around to keep Manah busy. Kanan dropped water bombs around Manah. Manah got away from the blast radius and shadow stepped when she saw an opening. Mari was ready with another “Electric Sonar” and picked up Manah’s location. She used “Raiju Cannon” and blasts away the cover Manah was using. Dia flung a flaming shuriken at Manah. Manah absorbs it with her dark funnel. It took a bit as some burns spreaded to her hand, but she manages.

Manah launches the absorbed flaming shuriken with some added dark energy back at Dia. It slices through a pillar and through the fire wall Dia created. Dia dodge rolled out of the way. The shuriken continued its flight forward and then flies back around. Kanan shoots a “Heavy Geyser in the way to slow down the shuriken. Dia didn’t realize the attack was coming back at her until she saw Kanan. Manah appears next to Dia and blasts her with a dark ice blast. She crashes into an insert in the wall with a vase. Dia had some frost on her has she twitched from the cold. Manah encased her in the small space with ice to keep her out of the way.

Mari held her wand out shot out multiple lightning orbs as they bounced around the area. Manah maneuvered her way around them and kept track of how close they are to her. One stopped and created an electric field in front of her, forcing her to stop and side step. Then the next and the next. Manah was able to avoid them and got out into the clear as the electric orbs exploded. Seeing Mari, Manah shot ice spikes at her and followed in behind. Mari shot down the spikes and readied “Thunder Rush”. As Manah got in front of her, Mari released her attack and Manah created a dark veil. Mari’s attack gets blocked and Manah punches Mari with a cross then blasts her back with a fire blast.

Kanan came in with a kick then a water bolt. Manah ducked the kick and dodged the bolt. She fired back a bolt of her own and Kanan dodges. Kanan makes a water wall between them then shoots a torrent of water from it, hitting Manah. She gets pushed back into an area with water circles prepared before hand. Kanan calls upon “Catcea Rush” as dolphins begin to bum rush Manah from all sides. She staggers back and forth from the impact of each hit. The last dolphin sends Manah forward towards Kanan’s next attack. A “Heavy Geyser” knocks Manah into a wall and onto her behind.

Kanan approached with another attack and Manah smiled as a light appear from her wand. A circle appears below Kanan and she recognizes the attack. She shoots her geyser to the side and used the force to get out of the circle. She moves right into a dark chain that wraps around her right leg. She tries to break free before seeing Manah come in with an energy blade.

Mari begins to get up, grimacing from the burns on her back. She looks for Manah and Kanan and sees Manah from behind. There was some blood coming out and she wondered what happened. She moved a bit to the side and horror came to her face as she found the source of the blood. Kanan stood there coughing out blood as Manah impaled her in the left stomach, just below the ribs, with her energy blade.

“KANAN!”

Kanan was visibly shaking a bit. The blade was jammed into her and the only thing keeping her alive is her own strength of keeping the blade from going any deeper. She gripped the blade with both her hands and held on with all her strength. Manah had a bit of a crazed look as she tries to push the blade further in and even lifted the blade up to try and make progress another way if she couldn’t get the blade further in. Kanan wouldn’t budge. The blade was cutting into Kanan’s hands as more blood came out.

“Hehehe! That’s a good look you have. I wonder what face you’ll make when you die!” Manah tries to push her blade in further again, but it wouldn’t budge. “Just give up!”

A fireball hits her in the back. Manah hisses in pain and finds an enraged Dia coming for her. Manah releases her blade only for her to get hit by a fire shuriken from Dia and sent flying. Dia ran by and after Manah, continuing her assault. Mari rushed over to Kanan as she fell on her knees. Mari held Kanan close as she digs through her pouch.

“Stay with me Kanan! I got you. Just hold on for a moment!”

“…Puggh..Mari..bluuhh” Kanan coughed more blood as her hands began to shake.

“Shhhh…it will be okay. Just stay with me. Please, just hang on for us. Dia and I won’t forgive you if you left us.”

“Hrrgh…”

“Please…just hang on. We won’t let you die.”


	49. Slow Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, just a short one this time.

“Come on Tsubasa!”

“Honoka, just hold on a second.”

“This way!”

Honoka pulled Tsubasa along as they ran away from their pursuers. Tsubasa is tiring out and Honoka is trying to find a place for her to stay safe while she takes care of their opposition. They ended up heading to the library in hopes of resting in one of the study rooms. When they entered, they were met with a scene of statues. Statues of witches from both sides to be exact.

“What the hell?”

“Seems like Agrius doesn’t really care that her own witches were caught in her attack.”

“Is she nearby?”

“Probably not. She seems to be avoiding battle when she can, so if I have to guess, she is somewhere where there is little to no action.”

“Coward.”

A bolt flew past them and destroyed a window in the library. Honoka looks back to see the enemy has caught up to them.

“There they are!”

Honoka closes the door and creates an earth wall behind the door to buy some time. She brought Tsubasa into the study rooms in the back and put her into one. Tsubasa tried to protest, but Honoka closed the door and went back out to fight. She made her way to a higher floor and waited with boulders at the ready.

The dark witches broke through and were met with boulders smashing a few of them. The others looked up to see Honoka run away and they ran and launched themselves up to third floor. Some were hit with earth spikes and sent crashing back down to the bottom floor. Tsubasa heard the fighting and wished she could be out there and fighting too, but she was visibly tired and she has to keep her “Yggdrasil Soul Surge” spell going. She calmed down and tried to get a read on everyone and sensed some trouble with two members.

Rin was sent crashing into a bench. She stumbles back up and transforms into a panther and began to run. Before she could get far, the second Cerberus tackles. The third jumps down from above and slams into her.

“Nyaaa!”

Rin gets assaulted continuously from the two beasts with little room to breathe. When the two beasts charged from two sides, Rin transformed into a small cat and the two crashed into each other. Then she transformed back to human form in midair and attacked with wind fists. The attacks knock the two Cerberus’ back and Rin escaped with the opening.

As she ran, something bright was heading her way and she looked back to see fireballs. Rin weaved her way around, ducking, jumping, sidestepping, and more to dodge. Suddenly one ran past her at a fast speed. It took a second before Rin recognized what happened as it rams into her before she could respond. Transforming again, Rin stared down the Cerberus in front of her, waiting for a sign so she could counter. She picks up something from behind and jumps into the air to avoid the charging Cerberus from behind. While in mid-air, the second Cerberus took the chance and hits Rin with a fireball. Rin crashes down onto the ground. She was able to recover and runs to her left, but gets bitten in the leg.

Now limping, Rin goes back to human form, doing what she can to survive. She gets cornered and the two Cerberus’ approach, seeing their prey open for the kill. They both lunge in and Rin gets ready for one last stand. A thorned whip smacks one Cerberus into the other from the side. More sprout out from the ground and begins to pummel the two beasts as they try to avoid them.

“Rin-chan!”

“Kayo-chin!”

Hanayo comes running in, with petal shaped bullets at the ready. She fires them at the distracted beasts and they pelt the two. Soon, some of the whips hit their marks and slams the two into the ground. Then Hanayo got them to wrap around them, the thorns puncturing their hide. The whips swing the beasts around and slamming them into whatever objects they could.

The Cerberus’ bodies became covered in flames and burn the whips. Now free, they were ready to attack. Suddenly they stopped, leaving Hanayo and Rin confused at what was going on. The two beasts heard a call and ran away towards the direction of the call. Hanayo was relieved at the development and went to check on Rin’s leg.

“Ah!”

“Careful Rin-chan. Here, let me bandage it up and we can head to a medical point to treat it fully.”

“Thanks Kayo-chin! You were so cool when you came in nyaa!”

At another part of campus, Jurogumo was searching for her prey. Her spiderlings were keeping the other witches busy as she continued her hunt. Behind a storage house, Nico sat against a wall, gripping her waist. There was some bleeding and a poison mark. Nico took out an antidote an applied it to her wound.

“Shit!” Nico whispered loudly as it stung. “Can’t believe I let that oversized spider get me like that. Using a student as bait to get me close enough for her to grab me was pretty smart. Either way, better me than a student getting bitten. They don’t have Tsubasa’s spell on them so their wounds would affect them more than us.”

Nico stopped what she was doing when she heard something nearby. She listened carefully to get a read on the location. The noise didn’t come up again and Nico got her wand ready just in case. Then, a web flung down from above and latched onto her and pulled her up onto the roof of the storage house.

Nico gets dragged towards Jurogumo, but she cuts the web with a bladed shot. Nico rolls back up on her feet and shoots more blades at Jurogumo. Jurogumo jumps into the air and releases a poison gas shot at Nico. She runs and jumps off of the roof. Before she could stop herself, Nico saw webs on the side she jumped to and got caught before she could cast another spell. Jurogumo jumps down on her and slams her into the ground.

“Haaaahhh! My lunch is ready.” She picks Nico up off the ground and begins to crush her between her hands.

“Grrgh…I wouldn’t….get..too cocky.”

“Huh?”

An energy arrow came down from the sky. It was spiraling towards Jurogumo and hits her before she notices. She screamed in pain as the arrow spun and pierced into her body before cutting though and leaving a hole in her. She screamed and squirmed around at the pain. Nico, now free, created a giant sword above Jurogumo and slays her before she could do anything else.

“That was a bit late.”

“Sorry, I had to get my target’s location based on what you were experiencing. Plus, it’s hard to send one out accurately from distance while fighting.” From the other side of campus, Umi stood over the slain archer that challenged her. She checked to make sure her opponent was dead before moving on to the rest. Umi looked around to see the enemies in her location begin to thin out and decided to move to somewhere that needed her help.

Yoshiko began to squirm her way to the door as Riko’s barrier wore out. With her limbs petrified, she couldn’t be of any use in the fight, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. Yoshiko stopped to catch her breath as it the squirming tired her out before continuing again. As she moved along the gound she saw a small glint coming from the other side and saw a vial of the cure near a destroyed table. As fast as she could, she squirmed her way to the other side of the room to where the cure was.

“Damn it all! Come on! I need to get to Riri before it’s too late!”


	50. Turning Tides

As the battles across Uranohoshi continued, there was a noticible decrease in numbers on the dark witches’ side. Part was due to most of the spiderlings retreating from battle now that their master is dead. The other was because the main teachers made pregress in taking out the main threats among them. Still, you can say this made them more desperate as they fought more recklessly, trying to take anything they can with them should they fall.

In the air, the number harpies began to dwindle. Celean had wounds all over her as she’s barely keeping herself afloat in the air. Some harpies flew around her to keep her from any more danger. Kotori flew in from the side with a cannon of wind at the ready. She fires to break apart the guard around Celean. She succeeds and has a clear path to Celean. Desperately, Celean created bullets of wind and shoots at Kotori in a spread. Her shots missed and Kotori gets close enough to pierce Celean with a concentrated shot of energy.

Celean falls, but not before she latches onto Kotori with her feet. Celean dangles as Kotori tries to break free. A harpy flies by and kicks Kotori in the head. She falls off her broom and now plummets to the ground with Celean. Kotori regained herself to see Celean has pinned her at the bottom. She kicks around to break Celean’s grip. When she felt a lost in strength, Kotori freed herself and blast a wind shot at Celeans wings. They hit the mark, leaving Celean with damaged wings that doesn’t look like they will help her fly anymore.

The two jostled for position in the air as they fell. One moment Kotori was no top, the next Celean gains the advantage. Punches and kicks were thrown at each other with no moment to capitalize with a big attack. The ground approached and Kotori noticed some witches and harpies flying in to assist Celean. Celean grabs Kotori to keep her in place for her allies.

Her allies neared and were ready to attack. Then a chain of lightning hits them. The bolt of lightning jumped from one to another, shocking them and making them drop from the sky. For a moment, Celean wasn’t sure what just happened and it that moment that Kotori freed herself from the grip. Kotori kicks herself off and charges her spell. She shoots a bird of wind at Celean as it carries her to the ground below. Kotori’s descent slowed for a moment before her speed picked up again. Soon, she sees Anju racing in and reaches her hand out. Anju catches her and pulls her up.

“Thank you Anju-chan.”

“Not me, look.”

“Ah, Eli-chan!”

“The ever clever Elichika at your service.” Eli salutes the two before she shoots more lightning bolts at the enemies in the sky.

Ruby was sprawned on the ground after the abuse she took from Alise. She approached the remaining three with a cocky look, believing she has won this bout. Hanamaru flicked her wand forward, but she stopped when she heard barking coming from a distance. The three girls looked in the direction of the barks and saw two more dogs come in. The light from Cerberus shone brighter, getting their attention. The other two began to run around the main one and they too began to shine. Then the three fused together and the light flashed for a quick moment, temporarily blinding the girls.

They covered their eyes to prevent themselves from being blinded. When the light subsided and they lowered arms, a stomp was heard with some loud growls. Standing before them was Cerberus in her full form. Three heads stuck out from the one body. Drool was dripping from their mouths. They scanned over the three girls, eyes focused, and ready to eat.

Each head arched back and fire began to form in their mouths. Then all three shot fire blasts in a cone in front of them. Chika, You, and Hanamaru dispersed from their positions. Cerberus began to chase and shot fireballs in any direction it sees fit. While firing, one head would shoot one in the sky and that fireball would break into smaller ones to add to the wave of attacks.

You broke away from the group and formed a water wall. She then fires water bullets into Cerberus. It tuens its attention to You and charged through the water wall. You rolled under it and flicked her wand up to create a water pillar to send Cerberus into the air. An earth fist formed above it and slams Cerberus down into the ground. Dust shot from the ground from the impact.

From the dust, a fire beam shot through and grazes You. An earth wall pops up in front of You to cover her and Chika took to the front. Cerberus gets up and runs at Chika. “Onikuma Rush” intercepts it and rams it to the wall. Chika used “Titan’s Hammer” and slams it into Cerberus, but Cerberus smacks it down into the ground with its paw. The momentum flips Chika onto the ground. She then sees another paw come down on her. Chika rolls out the way and Cerberus tries to bite down. Again, Chika avoids it and runs behind it. Cerberus turns and bumps into the wall it was near.

Chika points her wand to the wall and an earth pillar smacks Cerberus away from the wall. Circles of light appear above it. Cerberus quickly forms magic circles and shoots dark energy into the light beams. They overpower it and destroys the light circles.

Hanamaru channeled for “Itsumade Screech”. “Hellhound”, a dog of fire shoots past her and Hanamaru turns back to see Alise walking slowly towards her. Hanamaru tries to attack Alisr then Chika calls for her.

“Behind you Hanamaru-chan!”

Cerberus swipes Hanamaru away. She rolls on the ground and onto her stomach. Then lightning strikes down on her. Hanamaru gritted her teeth from the surge of electricity.

“Hahahahaha! You like that? How about some more!”

Alise creates more lightning and attacks Hanamaru. Chika fires an earth spike at Alise, but it gets shot down by a fireball and Cerberus rams into her as she tries to guard. Alise watches as Chika gets hit around by Cerberus. She laughs at her stuggling and laughs more when she sees Hanamaru try to get up.

“This is too funny. Now where’s that water girl?”

Alise looks around to find You. Scratching her head, she wasn’t sure where You can be hiding. Then she suddenly felt a wand on her lower back and heat burst forward.

“HAAARRRRGGH!” Alise falls to the ground from the surprise attack. She crawls forward clutching her back and then gets hit again with a fire blast. She rolls to her back to see Ruby barely standing with her wand pointed at her. Alise went  to attack, but her wand was out of her hands.She looks around and finds it and tries to get to it before Ruby blasts it away.

Cerberus detects her master in trouble and leaves Chika to help. Ruby shot a flurry of mini fireballs and Cerberus runs in to block it with its body. Ruby staggers back a bit seeing Cerberus. Alise used the opening to get to her wand. Then, a light beam hits her leg and she falls back down. Hanamaru was on one knee casting another spell and Cerberus shoots a fireball at her.

The fireball gets hit with a boulder and Cerberus turns its attention back to Chika. The three girls alternated their attacks to keep Cerberus distracted. It then jumps back to have the three in its sights and all three heads charged their fire breath attack. Alise was able to get to her wand and was about to get back in the fight when she heard some roaring water. She turns to the wall Chika made earlier and some water could be seen splashing from the top.

Seconds later, a wave breaks the wall and comes crashing towards Alise and Cerberus. Alise cursed and called for Cerberus. It stops its attack and turns around to get to its owner. Roots came from the ground and grasped onto its legs and Alise’s. Chika then raises some pillars to get herself, Hanamaru and Ruby to safety. While Alise, and Cerberus were engulfed by the wave.

The two were thrown around the violent waters. They would get up for air before they get dragged down again. Chika raised a wall further down the the pathway and the two smacked into it. As that was happening, You used her water dragon attack and it heads at Alise and Cerberus. Not being able to do anything, they were hit by it and were pushed throught the wall.

Alise coughed and couldn’t catch her breath from the impact. Cerberus whimpers as it gets up. It tries to shoot out another fire attack but a boulder gets thrown into its mouth just as the attack was discharged. The attack blew up in its mouth, causing it to howl in pain. The other two heads were also affected by the self inflicted damage as they shook around. A water spear pierces into Cerberus, causing it to fall down. Then lmagic cirles appear around it and charged for a blast.

“Wait!” Alise screamed and coughed as she spoke. “Stop….I…surrender. We give up!” Alise senses the danger and decided that enough was enough. She put her hands up to signal her surrender before faling on her knees from her injuries. The four girls looked at each other then agreed to stop the fight. Alise requested that she sends Cerberus back home and they agreed to it. They had their wands pointed at Alise in case she did anything funny as she creates a summoning circle and Cerberus begins to disappear into a dark portal. Finally, she tossed down her wand and had her hands tied up.

Hanamaru, Ruby, Chika, and You took a moment to catch their breaths and do some minor treatment. Alise just mumbled to herself and looked at the ground while they were resting for a bit.

“What made you finally give up?” You asked.

“What kind of question is that?” The four girls just stared at Alise. She was intent on going down fighting, but something inside of her said it was not a good idea to do so. The silence continued and Alise grew a bit uncomfortable and broke the silence.

“I felt like it was a losing battle the way it was going. I thought it would be best to surrender then just having Cerberus and I die.”

“Hoh?”

“Can’t say the same about your sister though.”

“What did you say about onee-chan?!” Ruby asked aggressively.

“I don’t know what your sister and her friends did, but Manah is pretty pissed right now. Not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing knowing how Manah is.”


	51. Know Your Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is close to the end.

Riko hid behind a bookshelf, trying to catch her breath from her running. Figuring that in straight up fight, she would be at a disadvantage, Riko decided to use hit and run tactics. She would set up traps and distractions to keep Agrius’ focus off of her then hit Agrius with a big spell or two before retreating to safety. Riko was a floor below to put some distance between her and Agrius. Footsteps approached with a feint call from Agrius. Casting her next spell, Riko waited for the chance to strike Agrius with her guard down. The footsteps got louder and then they started to fade away. Riko took that as her cue and uses “Fujin Gaze”. Twin wind pillars crashed throught the room and hits the wall before breaking it.

Riko looked around to see nobody there. Then she turned around and shot a crescendo, which was met with an earth bladed shot. Riko began to move again and Agrius cuts off her escape. Multiple crescendos were fired and Agrius absorbed some while dodging the rest. She fires them back at Riko who raised a light barrier to block them. The first few were stopped but the last one cut through her barrier and a dark bolt followed in. It hits Riko and made her take a step back.

Agrius swipes her wand to the left and an earth fist hits Riko to the wall. Riko bounces off of the wall and into an energy blast, sending her through it. Agrius walked to the broken wall and saw Riko try to get up. One she walked over the rubble, Agrius was met with a magic circle beneath her. A bright light shoots up and sends her to the ceiling. Agrius falls down and gets hit with a wind fist, sending her back to the previous room.

After recovering a bit, Riko ran back to the hallway and away from Agrius. A wall was shot down and Agrius appeared from it. She rubbed some of the dirt off her shoulders and persued Riko again. Down the hallway Riko ran, she was clear for a moment before energy bolts flew past her. She looks back to see Agrius approaching. Riko flicked her wand and magic circles appeared behind her and shot light beams at Agrius.

Then a dark aura appeared in front of her, forcing Riko to stop. She uses “Twin Fermata” and light pillars smashed into the spot with the aura. Riko stares at the spot, waiting to see Agrius appear. She looks back behind her and no signs of Agrius. A slight rumble can be heard and Riko looked up to see part of the celing fall. She gets out of the way and part of the wall shoots out at her. Again she avoids it and continues running.

Agrius appeared ahead of her and Riko flicks her wand downward. Wind pillars shot down in a line towards Agrius. Agrius shoots a dark blast that breaks through the line of pillars. Riko gets into the room near her and the energy blast misses her. In some sort of collection room, Riko plants magic circles around the door, before making her way to the far end of the room. She closes her eyes and began to channel.

Agrius busts down the door and walks through. Expecting a trap, she was ready when the magic circles lit up and shot dark beams at each circle before they could attack her. Giving a quick smirk, Agrius took a step a few steps forward before light chains came up and latched onto her arms. They begin to pull her down to her knees and the weight of the pull kept Agrius in place.

“Nocturnal Requiem”, Riko summons a dragon of light as it barrels towards Agrius. Agrius tries to move her arms to no avail and watches the dragon get closer and closer before it hits her. The chains break and Agrius gets slammed into the wall with the force of the attack smashing her through it.

Not done, Riko channeled again. She knew she has to end this when she could and the best way is to make sure Agrius gets no chance to even breathe. “Grand Symphony” was used and her orchestra of instruments appears above her. She begins to conduct and wind attacks from all directions hit the spot where Agrius was. One after another, the attacks pummel onto the same location. The howls, cries, and screams of the wind can be heard as Riko continues her assault. She sees some dark enrgy come out from the rubble and put more into her attacks.

Suddenly, Riko felt her chest tighten and her spell broke. She falls to her knees and hunched over from the pain she was feeling. Her body began to ache and she felt like puking. All she saw was her own body shake and tremble. She tried to get up, but her body wouldn’t listen.

“Ah, I figured that was what was going on.”

Riko looks up and see Agrius with just scratches on her and nothing else. Along with her pain, confusion appeared. How can she only have scratch damage? She took Riko’s best attacks head on. There’s no way she’s still standing after that and yet there she is.

“What? You thought your attacks were enough to hurt me let alone beat me?”

Riko looked flabbergasted. Her eyes widened at what she is seeing and she felt scared. All her work was for naught before her eyes and she doesn’t know what else to do with her current state.

“So, you were boosted with dark energy from Yoshiko I presume. That’s nice in the short term, but unless you are proficient in dark magic, it’ll backfire like it is now. You must feel extremely fatigued. Hmph, shame your gamble didn’t work. If you had fought me head on instead of running, you might have given me a challenge. You were too desperate to notice your attacks were getting weaker too.”

“N….no…. Its not over yet.”

“Shut up!”

Agrius hits Riko with and energy blast, sending her rolling on the floor. Riko laid there, nothing she can do as her body won’t listen to her. Fatigue has taken over and she’s left defenseless.

“I told you already did I not? You don’t belong here.” Agrius shoots Riko with several bolts. Her body jerking around from impact.

“Even at the beginning, you failed to keep up with my movements.” Riko was picked up and slammed back down.

 “Yet, you had the audacity to think you could do something.” She kicks Riko across the ground.

“This was a matter between two witches who study the art of dark magic. Not for someone like you!” Another energy blast sends Riko into the wall. She slides down the wall and was now sitting against it.

“You wasted my time and for that I will have you pay to make up for that lost time.” Agrius pulls Riko up and drags her out on the floor again. She shoots Riko with more energy blasts, sending her back into the wall.

“You should’ve just ran away when you had the chance.” Riko’s eyes were half closed. Her body only twitching, blood spilling out, conscious fading. The only thing she can do was to listen to Agrius.

“Hmph, this is the end for you. With you gone, I can get back to the girl with no pest to get in my way.”

Agrius charged dark energy into her wand. Riko watched as Agrius points her wand forward and a dark light shone. The energy began to sputter out and was ready to shoot once the sputtering was controlled. Agrius brings her wand back a bit and then swung forward.

A dark spike shot across the room and into Agrius’ shoulder. Her attack was distrupted as it disappeared and she stumbled forward a step. A hissing sound can be heard from the spike. Agrius slowly rasied her head up and turned around. Riko moved as much as she could to see what was happening. In her eyes, though blurry, she recognized the figure standing at the destroyed doorway.

“So you broke free.”

Yoshiko stood at the doorway. Dark energy was flowing around her and her eyes were full dark blue. She snarled at Agrius and some blood dripped from her mouth. Agrius took notice and saw a cut on her lip.

“Hmmm, if I had to guess, you bit into that vial in order to get the antidote.” Then she saw blood dripping from Yoshiko’s limbs. “Then you hurriedly broke the petrification, instead of letting it heal itself. How reckless, but this is what I’ve been wanting to see.”

Riko watched the two have a stare down. Soon, her vision darkens, her thoughts filled with Yoshiko and hope for her to win the fight. Her conscious fades away and her head drops; the last thing she sees was Yoshiko running in to attack.


	52. That's Enough

Mari proceeded with her treatment of Kanan. For the most part, Kanan stopped shaking and has calmed down. She was still in pain, but at least she’s not fidgeting. The treatment took longer because of the fact that there was dark energy around Kanan’s wound that ate away the healing salve she applied. Mari combined light magic with some medicine and carefully dispelled the dark magic to the best of her abilities. With the hinderance gone, Mari was ready to apply the salve to the wound and bandage it up.

“Alright, this will sting a bit, but bear with it.”

Mari applied the salve to the open wound and Kanan moaned in pain. Her body tightened and twisted making Mari miss the wound area. She told Kanan to stay strong and went back to her treatment. Kanan’s hands were gripped tight together and her left leg was flinching up and down. Soon enough, Mari was done and wrapped some bandages around the wound.

Kanan lays back down. Not in any shape to fight, Mari got some medicine out for Kanan to drink. One that was done, she would leave and join Dia in the fight while Kanan rested here. Mari pulls out some medicine and lifted Kanan’s head up and pured some medicine into Kanan’s mouth to drink. Some coughs came either from the taste or the fact that it was hard to drink in Kanan’s current state.Mari let Kanan rest a bit before making her drink more.

The medicine was done and Mari looked at Kanan one last time. She gave her a quick peck on her forehead and got up to leave. Then she felt an arm grab hers and pull her back down.

“Don’t you dare leave me here.”

“Kanan! How are you awake right now?”

“That’s not important. What is important is that we get back to Dia and help.” Kanan said sternly as she tries to get up.

“No! I’m going. You aren’t in any shape to fight.”

“And I’m telling you that I’m not letting you and Dia fight Manah by yourselves. I’m fighting one way or another.”

“Dammit Kanan, just listen to me for once! You always do something like this even though Dia and I protest. You’ll die if you take anymore damage from her!”

“Better that then watch helplessly!”

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Kanan decided to get up herself. She stood up for a moment before falling down to her knees. Mari had enough and helped her up.

“Fine, we’ll go together. But, you’ll need to be really careful or I’m taking you out of the fight myself.”

Manah gets pushed back more and more from Dia’s unrelenting assault. Fireballs, fire bolts, and fire blasts were shot and every direction towards Manah. Of course she didn’t just let Dia keep attacking. Manah made sure to prep for her counter and absorbed some attacks here and there.

There was a break from the onslaught as Dia tries to ctach her breath. Manah shot an ice blast toward Dia and another at a lower trajectory. Dia shoots down the ie shot heading towards her. The slight fog from that hid the second shot and it hits her ankle. Ice locked her left leg in place and Manah shot back a fire shuriken a massive fire ball a Dia. Dia melts the ice and rolls out of the way.

Unfortunately Manah was there in waiting and blast Dia with an energy wave. Manah dashes in at Dia as she staggered back. Quickly, Dia flicks her wand up and a fire pillar hits Manah into the air. “Phoenix Flare” came at Manah and Manah tries to absorb the attack. Manah gets pushed up in the air more as she absorbs the phoenix. Successfully she was able to do it and began to fall again.

When Manah saw Dia, Dia shot another phoenix and Manah shot back the one she absorbed. She follows it back creating an ice pillar to land on. Dia shoots down the pillar and Manah creates an ice wall this time to cover her as she returns back to ground safely. After landing, Manah looked at her right arm and sees it shaking. She feels like if she continues to absorb those big attacks, it’ll backfire on her sooner or later.

A shadow appeared below her and Manah looks up to see a meteor coming down. Manah shadow steps away and the meteor destroys the ice wall. Dia creates a ring of fire around her for defense, seeing Manah disappeared. She then follows up with “Fox Fire” and has fireballs floating around her. She waited in her ring as her fox fire spread out within the ring. A dark ice spike hits her ring from the right and she turns to see the spike pierce deeper through her fire ring. Soon the spot around it started to freeze to Dia’s surprise. Another one hit through her ring and another. Dia drops her fire ring and sends her fox fire in the direction the spikes came from.

Manah appears behind her and shoots her in the back with a dark shot. Dia fall to her knees and Manah puts her in a chokehold with one arm. Dia struggled to break free and Manah points her wand to her head. Dia begins to scream as Manah pours dark images and thoughts into Dia.

“Break for me, let me see you suffer! You either die or become my puppet, make your choice.”

Dia continues to scream as her mind gets tortured by Manah. Soon her grip loosened on Manah’s arm and her legs egin to shake. She grits her teeth to tries her all to resist but Manah just poured more and more into her mind.

“Almost there. Just a bit more and…”

A lightning bolt strikes her in the back. Then another one makes her lose her grip on Dia as Dia falls hunched over. Manah turns around and see a lightning blast send her away from Dia. Mari runs forward and charged a “Raiju Cannon”. Once she reached Dia, she fires at Manah and Manah creates a barrier. The lightning blast slowly made its way throught he barrier. Manah disappears before her barrier broke. Mari used her electric sonar and create multiple lightning orbs around her in the process.

Her sonar buzzed and she shoots the orbs in a wide area towards the direction she detected Manah. Dark spikes struck down acouple of the orbs giving Manah ample room to get out from the shock range of the remaining orbs. Manah fires a dark blast and Mari fires another lightning blast to clash. Mari gets pushed back from Manah’s attack  and Manah began to walk forward a bit. Then her leg was struck with a fireball and she loses her footing. Mari’s attack pushes through and knocks Manah back across the ground.

“Dammit all! I’ll get you two and tor…Hmm?”

Manah felt something wet under her foot. She looks down to see a puddle around her. Then a bubble formed around her from the puddle and Kanan steps out of hiding, holding the water prison in place.

“No no no! I won’t be held by such a thing.”

“Aqua Prison: Crush”, Kanan flicks her wand and arm down and the pressure in the prison increased. Manah felt her body begin to get crushed as she begins to curl up a bit in the prison. She gritted her teeth and mustered all she could to aim her wand at her. Dark energy began to pour around her and began to flicker like a flame. The dark energy begins to loosen the pressure around Manah and Kanan felt her fightning back. “Crush”, Kanan called again and more pressure gets added.

Mari held Dia up as they watched. Mari looked over at Dia and their eyes met. After a nod they both got in position and cast their spells. “Raiju Cannon” and “Phoenix Flare” were used and they collided at Kanan’s aqua prison. The water begins to conduct electricity and boil from the two attacks. Manah screamed as she felt the shocks and burns of the two attaks. The three 2nd years continue putting their energy into the attacks. Manah pours more and more dark energy into herself to break free from her predicament.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Manah screams and screams. She felt like her body was about to be ripped apart, but she didn’t care. Her dark aura got bigger and bigger as it sputters around in the prison. The four combatants then screamed altogether for one last push. A flash of energy exploded sending Kanan, Dia, and Mari flying back.

The flash cleared and the three students layed on the ground. Kanan looked up first to see Manah standing there with electricity flicking around her body and steam coming off of her. Mari and Dia later looked up. Manah just stood there, all you could hear was her heavy breathing. Then she took one step towards Kanan.

“I…..I…..won’t lose. I-I will….wi…uurrggh!” Manah stopped. Her body wouldn’t move anymore. All she could muster was to shake, but she couldn’t move. “Damn! Come on! Move!” She put everything she got into moving but couldn’t and eventually fell to her knees. “No…no…I…must…fight.”

Dia and Mari moved to Kanan and helped her up. They looked down on Manah who clearly has no more energy left in her to fight. She looked at the three and just yelled at them. She refused to lose this fight and wants to continue.

“Come on! The fight isn’t over yet! I can still..”

“Manah, just stop!” The four witches looked over in the direction of the voice. They were all shocked but Manah was probably the most shocked. Walking over were Ruby, Hanamaru, you, and Chika with Alise tied up. Alise was in front and proceeded with her plea to Manah.

“Manah, its enough. We lost.”

“No, how can you say that? We’re still here, we can still..”

“There’s nothing more we can do. You have no energy left to fight. Your body is at its limit.”

“No, I must fight more. I’d rather die fighting than die in some witch prison.”

“Just stop Manah. At least in prison, we’ll have more time to live.”

“I..”

“….It’s over.” Alise said softly. Manah looked at Dia, Kanan, and Mari then at the ground. She felt anger at what was happening. She wants to fight and die for the cause that she believed in. But, how much more could she muster and with Alise done, what else is there?

“I…I surrender.” Manah leaned back a bit and had a dejected look in her eyes. She looked over to Alise who just smiled at her. The other let out a sigh of relief as they won their fight. All they had left was to tie Manah up and join in the other fights once they rested a bit.

Ruby ran to Dia and they hugged knowing that each other were safe. Hanamaru helped Mari treat Kanan. While You and Chika tied Manah up. Chika made some flat stone for them to sit and rest and drank the medicines Maki made.

Meanwhile, Alise and Manah sat next to each other in silence. Manah continued to look down on the ground, biting her lip. Alise looked over to see her partner struggling to come to grips with the loss.

“Hey. Remember when we met?”

‘…Yeah. So?”

“You were really uptight and shit. I didn’t think we would be good partners when Agrius made us work together.”

“You were too carefree sometimes. It pissed me off seeing you just nonchalantly do things. At least with Agrius, I can research things with her. Even if her interest was in transmuting.”

“Yeah, well it all worked out in the end right?”

“You call this “working out”?”

“Better than the alternatives I guess. Besides, it'll lonely without you.”

“Hmph, again, you don’t take things seriously enough sometimes.”

“Hey, I d…Kuh!”

They froze in place sensing an increase in power from somewhere in the school. They both looked in the same direction and some sweat dropped.

“Oi oi, do you feel that?”

“I do. You don’t think Agrius..?”

“Its her, but there's this second source of power though. Is it who I think it is?”

“It’s the girl no doubt. No one else could have this kind of presence.”

“Hey! What are you two talking about over there?” You interjected hearing a bit of their conversation.

“Its none of your business you brat.”

“Hey! We beat yall so I think we deserve in on what you two are talking about.”

“She’s right. What’s this about strong presenses?” Dia walked up and asked.

Manah and Alise looked at each other and Alise just shrugged. Manah shook her head and looked away. Alise rolled her eys and spoke up.

“You see, one thing about us dark witches is that we can feel the presence of other dark witches. Of course the lower leveled ones can only get faint traces of their fellow witches. Ones like Manah, Agrius, and I can feel more of someone's presence and their general location.”

“You girls never notice how Yoshiko just looks around or looks in a certain direction from time to time?” Manah decided to ask.

“Now that you mention it.”

“She does look around randomly form time to time, zura.”

“Yeah, that’s her sensing a dark witches' presence. Of course she’s still not yet at the level where she can sense who and where they are, but theres hints of it.”

“S-so Yoshiko-chan, felt danger nearby from time to time?”

“Yes and no. A few times, it was probably some of the foot soldiers. I’m positive she felt Manah’s once or twice. And Manah felt her’s. Hence her fascination with Yoshiko.”

“Shut up!”

“What? Its true no? You felt her power and wanted her to yourself. Careful you don’t get jailed for something stupid.”

“Gahh! I hate you so much you know.”

“Hahaha! Anyways, what we were talking about before y'all joined was that we feel two strong presences of dark energy. One belongs to Agrius as she’s the only other powerful one here outside of us. The other no doubt belongs to your friend as she’s the only one in this school who can use it.”

“Which means that Yoshiko-chan is fighting with..”

“With Agrius yes. What caught Manah and I off guard was this surge in power from Yoshiko.”


	53. Dark Impetus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final fight. There's about 4 more chapters left in the story. I say "about" because I'm trying to figure out if the epilogue should be its own chapter or if I should combine it with the ending if the ending is short enough.
> 
> This should be wrapped up within two weeks.

Yoshiko gets pushed back out of the room Riko was in. She hits the wall and sees Agrius come in. Yoshiko ducks out of the way as Agrius stabs her wand into the wall and it blows up in an explosion. An energy blast sends Agrius across the hall. Yoshiko follows up with a dark blade shot. Agrius rolls back up on her feet and shoots one herself. Both attacks end up canceling each other out. Then they both shoot dark bolts at one another. Shots flew left and right, the two witches ducked and weaved away from each others attacks as the bolts flew by and burst into particles.

Agrius raises a wall to block Yoshiko’s view. Then she fires a dark energy blast through the wall at Yoshiko. A barrier blocked the blast and both spells wore out at the same time. They looked at each other through the hole in the wall. Agrius had a smile of excitement while Yoshiko had a mean mug look on hers. Yoshiko swipes her wand to the side and a blanket of energy formed in front of her then it formed into multiple dark spikes and shot towards Agrius. Agrius swings her wand to the side and a dark shield blocked the spikes.

Her shield drops and Yoshiko closed the gap quickly with an energy blade formed. She thrusts forward and missed. Agrius blasts her into the wall. Off the rebound, Yoshiko flicked her wand quickly and Agrius waved to use another spell. Her arm was stopped whe a dark chain wrapped around her arm. Yoshiko lands on the ground and gets up quickly to shoot a lightning blast. The attack hits Manah and sends her flying through a door into another room. Agrius gets up and felt blood run down her chin. She wipes it of and licks it.

Yoshiko dashed through the door with her shadow boost. Agrius smashed Yoshiko between two earth pillars from the side. Then she smashes her down with another pillar. As her body bounced off the ground, another pillar from below smacks her up to the ceiling. Yoshiko points her wand to herself and dark energy formed on her back just before she gets sent through the ceiling up a floor. Coming up from the ground, Yoshiko crashes into a table. Agrius uses a pillar below her to get her up the upper floor.

“Hehehehe, you are truly impressive to react fast enough and block some of the damage.”

Crackling can be heard from above and a blue light appeared from above. An ice pillar comes down on Agrius and she backsteps out of the way. Yoshiko gets up and creates a big gust of ice wind. It blows towards Agrius as she covers herself with her arms. Agrius squints a bit from the blistering cold wind and sees frost form on her. She points her wand against the gusts and manages to shoot a dark bullet. It pierces through Yoshiko’s right shoulder and stops her attack. Agrius takes a step forward and her foot slipped forward before she caught herself. She looked down and didn’t see any ice on the ground until a slight gleam was seen. When she looked up, Yoshiko shoots a dark bullet of her own that pierces through the top of Agrius’ left shoulder.

The pain stung on top of the wound the dark spike from earlier caused. Agrius took a quick glimpse to see some dark energy eat away at her shoulder a bit before disappearing.

“Is she…..Manah mentioned it…but…is she really?”

Some questions ran through Agrius’ mind seeing what Yoshiko was doing. It was cut short when she sees Yoshiko use an ice blast. Agrius rolls out of the way and sends two bolts towards Yoshiko. Yoshiko dodges them both and hears something strange. She looks back and sees a drawer and a part of a painting turn to stone. She looks back and sees more bolts heading her way. Yoshiko made an ice pillar to block. The first few bolts slowly turned the pillar into stone and then a larger shot destroys it. Shadow stepping away, Yoshiko got to a safe spot. She looked out from cover and felt someone behind her a used an ice blast. It hits a dark blast from Agrius and the impact knocks them both back.

Earth pillars came crashing down from above and Yoshiko rolls out of the way. Agrius uses an earth beam and Yoshiko absorbs the attack. Something felt different when Yoshiko absorbed it. She noticed her hand started to get stiff. She fires off the attack back at Agrius and it misses. The area it hit became petrified. Agrius shoots earth bolts this time. Yoshiko absorbs them as she ran and felt the same sensation from before. She shoots them back and two hit Agrius. She looks at her stomach and see some petrification starting before it breaks off of her.

She smirks at Yoshiko who looked a bit shock. Agrius shadow steps and Yoshiko followed. They appear and shoot more bolts at each other before disappearing. Then they got lose and shot each other with dark beams. The two attacks exploded and knocked them back. They got up and both swing their wands sideways. Energy sweeps their feet and they both fall down. Yoshiko points her wand up and ice circles formed above Agrius. Agrius does the same and stone circles formed above Yoshiko. The two cast their spells and pillars came down on them in a wide area. They both crash down one floor with debris falling on top of them.

From the pile of debris, Yoshiko rose up and pushed away some of it. She was breathing faster and held her stomach. Over at the other pile, the debris was blown away from the top and Agrius stood up. She too was breathing a little fast and was bleeding some.

“Hehehehehahahahaha! This is more than I can hope for! You really are something. I can see why Manah was so interested in you.” Agrius put on a wide smile, her excitement on the rise.

“…..Hmph” Yoshiko returned a smile herself and wasn’t sure if she’s annoyed or happy for the fight. Either way she didn’t dwell on it for Agrius was about to start again. The two point their wands at each other and casted their next attacks.


	54. Waning Force

Agrius creates a dark vortex from her wand. Yoshiko creates an icy gust and their attacks collide. The wind in the room swirled around in bluster. Objects in the room were flung about. Slowly frost and dark embers built in the room. Their breaths can be seen with the temperature dropping. Eventually a cut appeared on Agrius’ cheek. She feels the blood drip down her face. Yoshiko felt her knee burn as an ember lands on it. She doesn’t flinch knowing it would be her loss if she does. They kept their attacks going until they both cancel each other out in a small explosion of energy. Magic particles can be seen dropping down to the ground.

Agrius shoots more bolts out. Yoshiko dodges them all and struck forward with her wand. A bolt came from behind and hits her back, sizzling came from the hit. Yoshiko looks back then looks forward to Agrius who fires another. Yoshiko dodges again and the bolt hits the wall and bounces back near Yoshiko. It lands near her feet. Yoshiko wasn’t sure if the trajectory was right considering it hit the wall straight on. It would seem that a straight bounce was not guaranteed with the ricochet. Agrius continues to fire more and Yoshiko runs around and dodges them. Some fizzed out after missing while some ricocheted off the walls.

One manages to hit Yoshiko’s leg and she tumbles on the ground. More bolts came her way ans Yoshiko aimed her wand and makes an ice wall after the bolts go pass her. Then she fires some bolts of her own and Agrius dodges them. Suddenly one manages to hit her from behind and she looks at Yoshiko wide eyed. Yoshiko fires more and Agrius avoids them while keeping an eye on the bolts. They all fizzed out after hitting the wall but one rebounds off the wall and at her. Its angle was high and missed without Agrius having to move much.

“You learned to do that so quickly! What else can you do?!” Agrius’ excitement continued to grow at seeing Yoshiko fight.

Yoshiko stood up and the two witches traded away energy bolts. They dodged what they can while the some bolts ricochet around and hit them. The two almost didn’t care that some of the bolts were hitting them. Weaving around and firing back, they continued their duel. Sizzling of energy, crackling of ice, and the hissing of dark energy resonated in the room. Agrius shoots a wave on the ground and some debris flies in front of Yoshiko. She blows them away and gets hit with an energy beam and sent into the hallway.

Yoshiko gets up to see bolts shot at her. She absorbs some of them and ran down the hall. Agrius chased and fires energy blasts along the way. Yoshiko turns around and fires off all the bolts she absorbed in the hallway. They flung around the walls, ceiling, and floor of the hall. Agrius avoided them the best she can with their random bounces. Some manage to hit her and some stone formed on her before breaking off. She feels Yoshiko shadow stepped behind her and fires a stone beam. Yoshiko quickly absorbed the attack, going past the limit she could handle. Some blood squirts out of her arm and she was punched back small distance after absorbing it all.

Agrius moves forward but couldn’t. She looked down at her feet to see them frozen to the ground. Some of the bolts that missed at her feet slowly grew ice till it reached her feet without her noticing. She looks up and see Yoshiko fire the beam right back at her. Agrius braced herself and the attack carries her down the hall and through a wall to another large balcony.

Yoshiko ran towards her opponent with her shadow boost and then felt something weird. She stops at the hole in the wall and Agrius blew off the rubble with dark energy swirling all around her. Her forearms and front torso were petrified but then broke off. Yoshiko was still not sure how she’s stopping it from spreading. Yoshiko dashes forward with her boost still on. Agrius slaps her to the left with a flick of her wand. Yoshiko felt the sting of the attack and realizes how much stronger it was. She begins to get up but stumbles back down feeling a bit woozy.

Agrius laughed seeing Yoshiko on the ground. Yoshiko’s mind only had brief thoughts throughout the fight. This time she knew she needed more power to stand up to Agrius now. With a long breath she breathed out, steeled herself, and pointed her wand to herself.

“Hoh?”

A rush of dark energy came out and surrounded Yoshiko. She now has a similar aura to Agrius. Agrius looked on as Yoshiko gets adjusted to the surge of power. She took note of the slight twitches from Yoshiko as the power flowed through her. Agrius points her wand forward and fires.

“Heeeyyy! You all are okay!”

Aqours looked over to see Saint Snow fly in on an ice bird. Sarah stepped forward to meet Dia while Leah took a quick glance at the two dark witches before joining her sister.

“I see you two are alright.”

“Of course! It was crazy taking on those numbers, but Leah and I can handle it.”

“We froze those fools in place.”

“Awesome work Leah-chan!” Ruby popped up.

“H-huh? Oh, um, yeah t-thanks.”

“So are these two their leaders or something?” Sarah asked.

“Technically the commanders. Their real boss is somewhere in the school building fighting Yoshiko-san. Riko-san should be there too.”

“Shouldn’t we help?”

“Hah! You all and the red head help? Don’t even bother.”

“What was that?” Mari blurted out.

“You all had trouble with us. Hell, Manah stabbed a hole in one of you. What makes you think you can beat good old Aggy?”

“Alise is right. If anything, you’ll be more like flies to Agrius.”

“That’s some confidence you two have.” Chika stated.

“Of course. You all haven’t see….Guuhh!”

“What the hell is this?!”

Alise and Manah began to sweat and shake a bit. They felt an immense increase in dark energy and looked in the direction they felt it from. They both gulped before Kanan came up.

“What’s happening?”

“Kanan, you need to sit down and stop moving!”

“I don’t know what to say. This power is crazy. I knew Agrius could do this but this amount.”

“That girl can put out this much too?! Holy shit you found someone dangerous.”

“What?! What are you two sensing now?” Dia demanded.

An explosion came from a part of the school. Dark particles could be seen falling down and the force of it got the attention of Aqours, Saint Snow, Alise, and Manah. They looked in shock at where the explosion came from. In fact, it was fair to say the entire school felt that explosion. Fighting in others areas stopped and looked towards it.

At this point, the dark witches are losing. The spiderlings and harpies are all either dead or fled. Some were captured and morale was dropping as Alise and Manah were missing. The stronger ones did all they could to keep their forces together, but it could only do so much. There last hope would all be on Agrius doing something.

“I didn’t think she would be this much. I severely miscalculated.”

“It’s Yoshiko-chan isn’t it? Zura.”

“Yes, she and Agrius are outputting a dangerous amount of dark energy. There’s no way that red head is alive unless she fled.”

“Huh?”

“Look, we told y’all that you wouldn’t pose much threat to Agrius and this is why.”

“Agrius is the kind of person who doesn’t like people wasting her time, especially from those she deems unworthy. So the red head would be killed on the spot if she stuck around. The same for you all.”

“There’s no way Riko-san has died.”

“Either way, she’s better off not going near that fight. But there’s something bothering me.”

“Which is?”

“There is a surge of dark energy in the fight. Even though it’s increasing, it also feels like its fading?” Manah explained

“What?”

“Two strong presences are clashing and their energy is high. However one is still resonating strongly, while the other is losing its force; like they’re dying.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“Like hell you don’t know! You said you two could feel a person’s presence!” Mari walked up and grabbed Manah.

“That would be true. But these two are strong and clashing together to the point they’re mixed together. So it’s hard to tell one from another. We just know there are two people there.” Alise responded to keep Mari calm.

“Tch.” Mari put Manah back down.

“All we can do now is wait for the outcome, then we can tell who is left standing.”

Aqours and Saint Snow looked towards where they believe Yoshiko was fighting. They hoped for her victory and that both her and Riko were safe.

Agrius called out dark chains on Yoshiko and Yoshiko did the same to Agrius. They both were binded by the chains and it begins to suck out their energy. Agrius tapped her wand and turned the chains to stone and broke free. Yoshiko froze hers and broke them. Ice spikes formed and shot forward with earth spikes fired back as a counter. The spikes destroyed each other and left some dust. Yoshiko charged a “Thor’s Hammer” and fires the dark imbued lightning blast. Agrius absorbs the attack. It was all fine until some of the lightning slipped through and shocked her arm, causing her funnel to break. The remnants of the attack send her back a couple of feet.

She points her wand out with her arm shaking still from the shock. Yoshiko suddenly appears in front of her with an energy blade and narrowly misses Agrius as she just moved out of the way. She flicks her wand at Yoshiko’s waist and hits her with a blast. Then her leg to get her on one knee. Finally she hits her in the chest with an earth blast and sends her back. Yoshiko lands on the ground with some petrification on her front, but a wave of dark energy kept it from forming on her body. Soon a lightning blast sizzles by her as she ducked her head out of the way.

“HRRRAAHHHH!” Agrius charges her spell as dark energy gathered to her wand.

Yoshiko gets up and charges her spell.

“Medusa’s Calling”, a snake like dark energy blast comes out.

“Kuraokami’s Rage”, a dark ice dragon came out from Yoshiko.

The two attacks clash as it sends a shockwave to the surrounding area. Dark energy sparked form the clash and eats away the parts of the tapestry and furniture on the balcony. A wave of energy shoots out from the middle of the balcony again and shakes the ground.

They continued to put more and more power into their attacks. Each person getting pushed back a few inches. They put both hand on their wands to keep their attacks steady. Agrius can feel some pain in her arms from the stress and it eventually began to spread through her body. Yet, she feels in control of the clash.

Yoshiko held on as much as she could and pushed every now and then when she feels like she has the energy to push more. Her arms bled out more, her body began to ache, and her head started to hurt. Still, she ignores them in order to pull through and win. She then begins to feel cold, her body began to stiffen. What is this, she asked. Her head began to hurt more and her thoughts became blurry. Soon her vision began to blur in light. She continues to push despite all that. Her mind begins to go blank and her senses dulled out. Till it all went blank.


	55. You Were Always There For Me

“Dammit!”

“Focus Riko.”

“I’m trying Headmistress.”

“You’re not keeping it even. Do what I did when I synced my energy with yours.”

“Easier said then done.”

“Maybe we should try something different.”

“Hmmmm.”

“Alright, come here. Hold my hands.”

“Okay, now what?”

“Close your eyes and breathe.”

“Huuuu.”

“Okay, now try to sync your breathing with mine, sync our energy, sync our feelings.”

“……..”

“Good, now slowly transfer your energy over to me.”

“……..”

“You got it. Transfer it slowly so you don’t over do it. Okay, stop.”

“……..”

“See? Easy right?”

“With you it seems simple.”

“Yes, but you’ll have to learn to do that without contact.”

“What?”

“That’s why I’ m teaching you a derivative of my spell. It takes longer to be able to use my spell, let alone master it.”

“Can’t I just hold the person’s hand and be done with it?”

“No you can’t. In battle, there might be times where you can’t be in physical contact with a person, so you’ll have to do this at range.”

“But to sync with another person on such short notice.”

“I understand. But, there is one person you have a strong connection with and probably don’t need much time to sync with.”

“Yoshiko.”

“Correct, your relationship with her is strong enough to where it won’t take much for you two to sync your magic energy.”

“So, my spell is only for one person.”

“Correct, while mine was created for multiple parties in mind. That’s why I trained hard to improve my stamina thanks to the Umi Sonoda program.”

“Sonoda-sensei?”

“Don’t join it, unless you want to die. There’s a reason why I trust Umi with all things concerning combat.”

“I see. So how long did it take you to master your spell?”

“For the scope of what I can do, it took a few years. Realistically it took a couple of weeks. It started with me thinking about a way to boost up Erena and Anju. I thought of this method considering my proficiency in light magic and since we were best friends, it was natural for me to be able to sync with them. The issue was maintaining it. That took some time. Oh, and also getting them to sync with me.”

“But a few years?”

“Then I met Honoka. Not sure why, but she attracted me. Her determination, her airheadedness, her love for bread, her corny jokes, whatever it was, it made me infatuated with her. After dating, I was able to use my spell with her. Of course getting to know her would naturally lead me to meet her friends in Umi, Kotori, Hanayo, Rin, Maki, Eli, Nozomi, and Nico. We all got to know each other and I felt like I can trust all of them. So, I decided to spend some time with each of them to get to know them and establish a connection with them. You should’ve seen Honoka; she was so jealous that I was spending time with the others so much. But, it all paid off in the end when I used the spell on all of them including Erena and Anju. That is what took a while. To sync with eleven different people and have the stamina to hold the spell while doing other things is a tough thing to master. Luckily Umi has trained all her life so she helped a lot.”

“All of that? Wow, no wonder you’re Headmistress and they’re so loyal to you.”

“And I trust them. Now, there is something that makes my spell different from what the dark witches do with their boosts.”

“What is it?”

“My light, your light, light in general isn’t an invasive element. That’s why the spell requires you to sync with your target in order to work. It keeps things even and no harm can be done to either party. The dark however will invade and bypass whatever it is the person is feeling at that time. It will cause problems to the target and if they’re not strong enough, it can potentially kill them. From what you’ve told me, Yoshiko’s wounds never disappeared. They appeared to be healed, but in truth it was covered up. This might hold true for other dark witches. Their injuries will be covered by their dark magic, but all it does is stop the injury from getting worse, sometimes it makes them ignore the actual pain they’re feeling. With this spell, it’s the opposite. It can heal the person to a degree and it won’t cause pain along with the original purpose of the spell. Only real drawback is the fatigue you as the castor will feel, but it’s not one that’ll hurt. Your target will also feel fatigued at the end, but it will vary from person to person how much it will be.”

“You know so much about this.”

“I looked into your accounts of the incidents that happened and into some past incidents involving dark witches. There were some similar details regarding the boost in abilities. Ultimately, this can be the key to victory, the effects this spell has on the target is nothing to scoff at. I have faith that you can make something happen with it.”

“Thank you Headmistress. Let’s continue with the lesson.”

Yoshiko’s mind and vision began to clear. What is happening? What is this feeling? She was losing grip of herself a moment ago and now, she feels like she’s back in control. Arms wrapped themselves around her and she can hear a very familiar voice behind her. Yoshiko turns back and sees Riko. She’s still battered from her fight, but she made it over to Yoshiko.

“Yocchan. It’s okay, I’m here to help.”

“Riri?”

“Just look forward Yocchan. Look at what you must do to win.”

Yoshiko turned forward and keeps her spell going. “Yggdrasil’s Tears”, a bright light glowed behind Yoshiko and surrounded Riko’s figure. Then it slowly transferred over to Yoshiko and she began to glow. Agrius wasn’t sure what was happening. The size of the spells and the energy flying out from the clash blocked most of her view outside of a small glimmer she saw.

All of a sudden, Yoshiko felt her body become light. Some of the pain she felt disappeared. Her mind became clear. A rush of energy surged through her. But, it wasn’t like her dark magic. This one felt, clean, not dangerous, almost natural. Hands wrapped around her own and she looked down to see Riko’s hands on top of hers.

“Now, let’s win this Yocchan.”

“Right!”

The two lovers put all they had into Yoshiko’s wand. “Unstable Finale”, the ice dragon began to crack. Agrius thought she won this bout when she heard it. Then she felt a heavy force push her back.

“What?!”

The ice dragon would crack until it shattered, but the attack didn’t end. Like a reptile shedding its skin, the ice broke off, and emerged was a dragon of light and dark. It sends a loud roar that shook the room and nearby area. Agrius braced herself, gritted her teeth, and put everything she had into her spell. A pain rung through her body as she pushed it well past her limit. She can feel her heartbeat beat faster and faster. Her right arm began to shake and she braced it with her left to keep it steady until they both began to shake. Agrius gets pushed back more and more as her snake begins to get overtaken.

“Noooooooooo!!”

Her spell gets engulfed by the dragon and it engulfs her with it. The attack blasts through the wall and up in the air. It lets out a loud roar as it headed towards the sky and dispersed. All the witches around the school watched what just happened, wondering what just happened.

Alise and Manah focused to sense who was left standing. Then they lifted their head and looked at each other. Disappointment in their eyes were shown and they let out a long sigh.

“It seems Agrius was defeated.”

“Really?” Aqours and Saint Snow said in unison.

“Yes, her presence has weakened to the point it’s faintly felt.”

“Th-they did it. Those two did it!” Mari began to cry in joy. Then they all cheered in jubilation at the news. Anju picked up what was said and delivered the message throughout the school. Soon, loud cheers and roars erupted form the students and faculty. They all smiled, cried, and hugged at the news that victory was practically in their hands.

The remaining dark witches began to back away. Some surrendered immediately, some fled, and the remaining would rather die fighting. Their last bit of bravado was for naught as they were struck down quickly by the Umi, Eli, Nozomi, and Erena.

The petrified witches in the library were free and fell to their knees, weak from their previous status. As soon as the dark witches recovered, they were met with numerous wands pointed at them. They put their hands up and dropped their wands. Tsubasa came out and commanded they be detained and placed with the rest of the rest of their group. Honoka fell to the ground, exhausted from the fighting. Tsubasa came over and flicked her forehead, telling her to never throw her in a room and locking it ever again. Honoka laughed and quickly complied when she saw Tsubasa with a wide smile.

Back at the balcony, Yoshiko and Riko were catching their breaths from their combined attack. Yoshiko laughed at what happened and looked at Riko who returned the sentiment. They both went in for a hug then Riko passed out.

“Riri!”

Yoshiko caught her and placed her on the ground. She quickly checked Riko’s pulse and her breathing. A huge look of relief came up when she confirmed Riko was okay. She’s just tired is what Yoshiko determined. Yoshiko sat down and stretched her legs. She sat back and looked over Riko, thinking about what they just did.

“Hahaha.” A faint laugh can be heard and Yoshiko quickly got up and drew her wand. She looked to the other side of the balcony to see Agrius laying there. The dark witch was wounded, burned in some areas, her outfit was ripped in some spots, and barely moving. Slowly Yoshiko approached with her wand pointed.

“Put your wand down. I have no intention to fight anymore, not that I have the energy to.”

“What if you pull something sneaky?”

“Trust me, I can’t fight anymore. How about we just talk for a bit?”

“Talk?”

“Yes, let’s have a chat. It’s nice to have someone to talk to after all of this.”


	56. What Will You Do?

“Heeeeyyyy! It’s been a while Tsubasa-chan!”

“Yes, it’s been a while Saya-chan.”

The students and faculty began to clean up the outsides of the school. All the dark witches were detained and were getting put into prisoner carriages. Umi, Eli, Maki, Nozomi, Rin, Hanayo, Nico, Kotori, Honoka, Erena, and Anju were in the infirmary getting their exhaustion treated so they can help the clean up. Saya was one of the few people from the Defense Institute that Tsubasa trusted. Saya and her division are people who don’t believe the current council members are good for the future of the magic society, but they aren’t in position to oppose their laws. Tsuabasa sent a last minute letter to her and her division to arrive at Uranohoshi sometime in the evening. It was planned for them to not get involved in the fight or the Council and the Institute would arrive themselves.

“I wish we could’ve done something for you and your school.”

“Don’t worry, this was something we wanted ourselves.”

“I have some of my women out searching for the ones that fled.”

“Good, though I doubt they’ll be a problem in the future.”

“You never know…..So, how many?”

“Don’t know, we’re still getting a body count. It’ll be tough getting the news around and I’m positive the council will hear about this sooner or later.”

“Just know you have my support and I’m sure the other Headmistresses will support you too.”

“Thank you”

Back at the balcony, Yoshiko quickly went to check on Riko one more time. Then, she made her way to Agrius and sat next to her. It was silent between the two of them for a moment, but it wasn’t tense. Yoshiko felt that there wasn’t any hostility from Agrius now and just waited until Agrius was ready.

“So, is she awake?”

“No, she’s resting.”

“Good, she doesn’t need to hear this.”

“What is it that you want to talk about?”

“You beat me and my army, now what will you do?”

“What will I do?”

“You didn’t think that you can do this again did you?

“You mean that there are more?”

“Yes, my group isn’t the only one out there who wants to change this world. There are plenty more out there, not just in this country, but others. Some are stronger than me. Some might have a more twisted view of change. You think you can fight them all to keep the peace?”

“….”

“You can’t. You’ll die in the process. That’s way too much for you to handle, even with help. Also, the other schools won’t be able to defend themselves like this school. They don’t have the teachers like the ones here, and they sure as hell don’t have someone like you. It’s why we need to change this world. Only through force will people listen. Only through sheer power will they conform to your thinking.”

“You’ll just kill people or manipulate them if they don’t listen to you. That’s not how you get positive change to happen.”

“Oh, and you think the council will listen to your reports and hypotheses? They listen to people then trash their reports as nothing but a fool’s dream. We need to rule with power.”

“I know we can get them to change.”

“Heh, yeah, that is something I would like to see. Shame that won’t happen.”

“What do you mean? Hey!” Yoshiko looked at Agrius’s legs and noticed petrification starting to spread. Agrius just put on a soft smile at the concerned Yoshiko.

“My time is ending it seems.”

“What?”

“Listen, I’ve done some things. Crossed the line plenty of times for my research. This was how I made myself immune to petrification. I’m sure you noticed that during our fight. In place of that, I shortened my lifespan and now with me at deaths door, the immunity has bitten back.”

“Was it all worth it?”

“Hell yeah! I became immune to petrification. I transmuted humans with mythical creatures. That’s some advancement that you won’t see from some normal, law abiding school. Imagine the possibilities; complete mind control, being able to see and hear what another person sees and hears, soul transfer, leeching someone’s energy, hell even life extension is possible.”

“What?! If that’s possible then why didn’t you do it?”

“Some of it is still theory. I saw some of the notes some other people done. It’s fascinating stuff, outside of the fact that you could die pursuing some of it. The Council will be in a panic if they witness some of these things come to fruition.”

“They have to change. With what’s happened here and what could happen based on what you said.”

“How many have to die for them to actually do something I wonder.”

“Hopefully no more.”

“Hahaha, if only it worked that way. Hmmmmmm.” Agrius closed her eyes and sensed for something. When she felt the two people she was looking for, she had a small smile and opened her eyes.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing, just making sure Alise and Manah aren’t dead.”

“You actually care for people?”

“It’s the foot soldiers that I don’t care about. They’re nothing more than pawns to sacrifice for a greater purpose. The only people in my group that I had some form a connection to were Jurogumo, Alise, Manah, and Celean. Juromugo was a day by day thing, but she did her job without much questions. Alise does things at her own pace, but when she’s serious, she’ll get the job done. Manah is a researcher like me, so there are mutual interests. Those two are always arguing with one another, that Alise and Manah. But, it kept the place lively. Celean and I knew each other for a while and studied transmutation. I just went further than she was willing and eventually made her my test subject when she refused to help me. I always wondered why she stuck with me after what I did to her. Was it that she forgave me or pitied me, I’ll never know. Actually, I’m probably going to see her soon so I might finally ask her.”

“I’ll make them see. I’ll make them change.”

“Go for it. I’ll be waiting on the other side to see what you do. Trust me though, force is the better option. But let’s say you get your way, how does that stop evil from being born. The council changes and let’s people study dark magic and use it. Through that, witches discover a whole new world of possibilities and that desire makes them delve deeper into dark magic. What would happen if they turn evil? What if the ones that train to control it lose control? You better have plans because your ideals aren’t perfect either.” The petrification was almost done as it just reached Agrius’ lower neck.

“…….”

“Farewell young one. We’ll see who was right. Don’t turn on your friends all of a sudden. Though, with what you’ve shown here, I doubt you’ll have any problems like that. Hell, I’ll admit that for a moment, I believed that you might be the change the world needs…….Heh, what am I saying?”  Agrius became silent and the petrification completed. Yoshiko got up and looked down with pity in her eyes. She took a step before Agrius turned to dust and was swept away by the wind. Yoshiko picked Riko up and carried her to the infirmary and to see their friends again.

A day later, classes were canceled. Once all the students had breakfast, a house meeting was held to inform them on what the day would hold. Everyone had jobs to do to help clean and repair the school. Contractors were brought in quickly by Maki’s and Mari’s family and they began reconstructing the damaged parts of the school. All of Aqours either went with Nozomi or Rin as they went to run some errands for the school.

Yoshiko and Riko stayed behind. Riko was still unconscious from yesterday and Yoshiko since she had something more important to handle outside of being heralded as the hero. Yoshiko was in bed, thinking about what Agrius had discussed with her. There was some truth to it and Yoshiko wanted to find some way to prove her wrong.

Tsubasa was in her office, filling out a lot of paperwork. Erena and Anju just bought more, adding more onto the piles that were already there. She stopped and drank some tea, deciding to take a quick break. It seemed like the paperwork would continue to pile on the more she does.

“Aaaaahhh, fighting is so much easier than this.” A knock came and Tsubasa recomposed herself. “Come in.” Yoshiko slowly walked in with a determined look.

“There’s something I want to discuss with you Headmistress.”

“What could it be Yoshiko? Or should I say hero?”

“Just Yoshiko is fine. It’s about me staying in school. I’ll be leaving school today and I’m not sure when I’ll come back. Like on a long term basis.”

“We still have until the end of May till school ends. That’s about 7 weeks. What brought this up?”

Yoshiko went on and talked about what Agrius said and a bit about what Manah mentioned as they both coincided with each other. Tsubasa thought a bit about it and had some agreement with their perspectives.

“It’s true, the Council and the Institute as they are now are ill equipped to combat dark magic if something like this happened somewhere else. But, just killing those in the way will only cause more problems.”

“That’s why I’m here. I want to do something and I have to leave school for it to work.”

“I see. Interesting time to bring it up considering what I have to do for the next few days.”

“……..”

“40.”

“40?”

“That’s how many students and faculty died in the battle. I have to write letters to each of their families to tell them that it was my ineptitude that caused them to die. No doubt our school will lose face over something like this and the Council will do nothing to try and help. It’s also why I sent a little network of letters to other Headmistresses.”

“For?”

“For their assistance when I need them. We need a united front to go against the Council and I think it’s near time we make our voices heard about the problems that are rising. So, there is a chance we’ll run into each other in the near future.”

“So, I can leave?”

“Yes you may, and I’m exempting you of your exams since I feel like you’ve showed your true potential in the fight against Agrius. Hell, with whats happened and what little time we have left in the school year, I might have to exempt all the student’s finals. Graduation might have to be pushed back and I have to find a way to have parents trust me to send their kids here. On top of that, I have to listen to the Council berate me and the school once they hear about this. Haaaaah, just another day in the life of a Headmistress.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“No, thank you for what you’ve done. It’s nice having you as a student here and Guilty Kiss will win the house cup just to let you know. Also, I have a request of you.”

“Anything since you’ve helped me so much.”

“When you do come back, I want you to become my assistant.”

“Your assistant?”

“Yes, you’ll help Erena, Anju, and me with paperwork and other chores around the school grounds. Don’t worry, we’ll be sure to let you leave once the school day ends so you have time to enjoy your student life. And it’ll probably be for just a year.”

“That’s a fair request.”

“Good. Do they know about your decision?”

“No. I’ve left them something since I’m leaving as soon as possible.”

“Not even Riko?”

“I know, I feel sick that I can’t be there when she recovers, but this is something that needs to be dealt with as early as it can.”

“I agree with that. Good luck out there.”

“Thank you.”

Yoshiko got her stuff and left after talking to Tsubasa. Aqours returned to check up on Yoshiko and Riko. They were confused at not being able to find Yoshiko and then they were shocked when they found out she left the school. Riko recovered the following day. She was sore when she woke up and felt bandages wrapped around parts of her body.  Feeling hungry, she walked out to the living room to see the rest of the group there with sad looks on their faces. Riko was worried when she didn’t see Yoshiko among them. Before she panicked, Mari handed Riko a letter. It was written in fancy hand writing that Riko recognized as Yoshiko’s. She sat down and read it.

_Dear Aqours,_

_I’m writing this letter to tell you all that I’ve decided to leave Uranohoshi for a while. How long I’ll be gone is unknown. After the fight we just experienced, I felt like there is something that I must do. I hope you all will understand my decision as this is something only I can do. With the way things are, only more problems will arise. There must be change in order for our society to withstand the impending dangers that will come if left unchecked. When the year started, I wasn’t sure of what to expect. But, I was glad to have met and became good friends with you all. I really enjoyed all the good times we had together. Even the normal stuff was fun with you all. I’m glad to have gotten the chance to know you all. And it’s a shame that I will have to miss these good times when I’m away. But I will return, and when I do, we can make even more fun memories. So everyone, please keep doing what you’re doing and please wait for me. Finally, thank you for being my friends._

_Riko, I know this must be tough as you’re reading this. But, all I can say is sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t be there to nurse you back to health like you did me. I’m sorry I can’t be there to spend time with you. I’m sorry we won’t be able to go on dates or spend the holidays together. I’m sorry that it was now that I chose to leave. It drives me nuts to know we will be apart. You’ll be in my thoughts everyday when I’m away. I want you to understand that this decision wasn’t easy, but its one that must be made. Please wait for my return and I promise that I’ll make it up to you. Whatever you want, I’ll happily do with you. And most importantly, know that I love you more than anything._

_-Yoshiko_


	57. My Home is Wherever I'm With You

A few days after Yoshiko left, a memorial service was held to honor the 40 students and faculty that fell in battle. A heartfelt moment as Tsubasa talked about each of the fallen witches and a star lit up for each one. A gravestone was erected near the western garden with all their names engraved in them. Tsubasa would visit the stone every now and then whenever she has time for a moment of remembrance.

It took some time, but the school would be fully repaired. Classes were finally back to normal and through some of the repairs, they got new equipment and some of the rooms grew in size. Just in time too as Tsubasa was about to exempt the finals for this year. Umi and Erena were having none of it when Tsubasa mentioned the possibility. Through some convincing, it was agreed to lighten the load of the finals to accommodate the students after the battle.

School was coming to an end and summer break was upon the students. On the final day, Tsubasa had other business and left early, leaving Erena and Anju to give the closing speech. Guilty Kiss were the winners of the House Cup and Nico stormed up the podium and took the trophy before the speech was done. She cheered and jumped for joy before Nozmi grabbed her and threw her into her residents. They threw Nico up in the air like a mosh pit much to Nico’s chagrin. They held a house party to end the night and anybody was welcome to come. Nico got some of Honoka’s chefs and they whipped up as much food as they can for it. It was a jovial event, but one that was bittersweet for Riko. She sat at a table far away from the rest of her housemates and drank some tea looking out the window, wondering where Yoshiko is and if she’s taking care of herself. Mari joined her to provide some company as they engaged in some small talk.

Riko returned home after school closed and hugged her mom the moment they met. It seems that Riko’s mom also had a similar letter written to her from Yoshiko’s mom and now the Tsushimas are away doing whatever it was they were doing. The summer was a quiet time unless Riko was hanging out with anyone from Aqours. Sometimes they all went to her home, sometimes they went out for a group date, and sometimes they all just hung-out somewhere and just talked. The group went to the beach together and attended the summer festival too with Saint Snow conveniently being there. Riko would wonder off by herself sometime during their trips and look at the stars. The others knew what she was feeling and decided to let her be, knowing Riko would say she’s okay if asked.

Something that Riko noticed and was picked up by Ruby also, was that there was a faint caw around them when the group would hangout. It wasn’t frequent, but it would be heard every now and then. They looked around for the source and would eventually discover a raven perched somewhere nearby. It seemed to look down on them for a brief moment before flying off. It was strange and Riko never figured out why a raven would appear around them.

Soon school started up again and a new batch of students came in, and the same introductory rituals were performed. Tsubasa appeared to be in higher spirits than normal. None of the students can figure out why, but it would appear Tsubasa accomplished some things she wanted since the battle ended.

School went on as the months pass. Event after event, tests after test, class after class, day turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Again, a raven flew around Aqours every now and then and looked at them for a moment before leaving. Soon, all the members noticed and wondered what the raven was doing. There was even an attempt to catch it with the assistance of Kotori, but the raven kept a good distance away to ensure its safety.

Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day, went by and Riko spent those days with her doujins or with her mom. Still no signs of Yoshiko, not even a letter. Riko kept her heart strong and steady and continued to live her life without any worries. Despite the lack of contact from Yoshiko, she held onto the fact that Yoshiko would return when she’s ready. After all that went on a year ago, this felt much easier to deal with. Still, Riko can’t help but feel lonely. She can’t help but miss Yoshiko’s antics, her mannerisms, her smile, her touch, and her love. Aqours and especially Mari, did all they can to keep her spirits up and Riko was thankful for them.

It was the start of May and Aqours was in Riko’s living room. The room was the same room as the one she and Yoshiko got last year. They were having normal chatter about classes and other plans for the week before studying ramps up in prep for the approaching finals. A familiar caw can be heard and it didn’t bother Aqours much as they’ve grown accustomed to it. What did surprise them was the sound of a door unlocking. The doorknob turned and Aqours stood up, wondering who else got the key to the room considering the locks were all new from last year. The door opened and in came a woman.

After a few steps in, the woman looked at Aqours in slight surprise that there was this many people in the room. Riko quickly stood up and began to cry.

“Woah, everyone is here.”

Standing there was a woman with straight, long dark blue hair. She wore a blouse with grayish blazer and gray pants.  She was a hetero-chrome with one dark blue eye and a familiar magenta eye. A small fang can be seen on the left of her mouth when she opened her mouth. Bandages can be seen wrapped around her hands and neck. The way they were wrapped, it was a sure thing that there were more bandage wrappings on her.

“Yocchan!!” Riko ran into her arms and hugged her tightly, tears flowing down her face.

“Riri! It’s nice to see you too. And all of you.”

 “Yoshiko-chan!” Aqours ran up to see Yoshiko.

“Yes its me. Ah, Riri not too tight. My bandages.” Riko pulled away a bit, her hands on Yoshiko’s shoulders.

“I don’t care. You leave like that and don’t expect me to be like this when we meet for the first time in a year. You’re so selfish and inconsiderate. You can’t even write one letter to tell me you’re okay. Even a simple hello would be enough.” Riko cried and pounded Yoshiko’s chest softly with her fist as she continues to let out her pent up emotions. Riko had her head down when she finished and Yoshiko dipped a bit to look up at her face. Riko then pulled her in again for a hug.

“I know and I’m sorry. But it’ll be tough to answer your questions like this don’t you think.”

“Oh…..yeah. One more tight hug.” Riko squeezed the hell out of Yoshiko and she grimaced in pain with a smile on her face. Riko let go and backed up a bit to the others and took a full look at Yoshiko now that her tears were wiped off.

They couldn’t believe their eyes. Compared to the Yoshiko they knew, this one exuded a more mature aura. She stood more dignified and they weren’t sure about it, but did she look taller? Or maybe it was from the shoes. But, it definitely looked like Yoshiko grew up in the past year. Everyone took their seats with some refreshments before Yoshiko explained where she went.

“So yeah, this past year was my mom and I gathering allies and results to convince the council about making a change. Headmistress Tsubasa helped out when she could too. Of course, my mom and I trained to have control of our dark magic and we succeeded in that. It was getting the others to achieve it that was the problem. We weren’t sure what would be a good stopping point with the training, but getting past the acceptance part was agreed upon as a stopping point. The rest would be finished once we get a facility of sorts.”

“Wow, all of that in a year? And you traveled all over Japan.”

“Yep. I wanted to see you all when I was in an area near you, but the work took priority and we had to get things done within a time frame.”

“How did you know we were nearby?” Ruby asked.

A caw was heard again and a raven flew in through the open window and landed on the table. It began to peck at some cookies.

“Wait, that raven was..”

“The one that you all noticed.”

“So all this time, this raven was you keeping an eye on us?”

“Just so I can see you all are in good health and stuff. I trained Hugin to locate things and I used a picture of Riri for her to find y’all. She didn’t need to stay long though; just enough for me to see you are all okay.”

“Woah, zura.”

“You must be tired, why don’t you unpack your things and rest? We can continue after that and talk about school since you’ve missed the whole year.” Dia suggested after seeing Yoshiko taking a long breath and stretching.

“No thanks. I’m not here for school.”

“What?” Everyone screamed.

“I mean theres only a month left so there’s no point. I’ll rejoin starting next year. Right now, I need to talk to the Headmistress and get some things exempted before I assist her in some of her matters. Don’t worry though; I’ll be around school for the rest the school year. Just not as a student, more of an assistant to the Headmistress. And of course I’ll be home for the break. All the matters I needed to do is done and now I just wait.” Yoshiko said while looking over to Riko.

“Thank goodness. I thought you were leaving again.” Chika said.

“Nope.” Yoshiko stood up and approached Riko. She looked at her in the eyes for what felt like an eternity and Riko was confused at what Yoshiko was trying to do. Then Yoshiko spoke.

“Riko, this time away from you made me realize how much I love you. When we met, it was awkward at first, but I felt like you were someone I could trust. Everything changed when we spent more time together and eventually we fell in love with each other. My world changed at that moment. I had someone that I wanted to protect, someone that I would love with all my heart. You complete me, you saved me, you believed in me. Through all the tough times, you were there for me. Then when you needed me, I left. It was something I needed to do, and it pained me to have to make that decision. And yet, you still waited for me and here I returned. Back to everyone, but more importantly, back to you. And I’m sure your love for me and my love for you has grown since then. Never do I want us to be apart again and with that I must ask…”

Yoshiko gets down her one knee and pulled out a small box. Riko’s eyes widened at the realization of what was about to happen. Chika gripped You’s arm really tight in excitement. Mari was jittering in excitement, ready to explode. Hanamaru and Ruby hugged each other in anticipation. Kanan and Dia crossed their arms and smiled.

“Riko Sakurauchi, will you marry me and forever be my partner for all eternity?”

“Y-Yes! Yes! I’ll marry you!”

Yoshiko slipped the ring on Riko’s finger and pulled her up for a hug and kiss.

“SHINY!!!!”

“Congratulations you two!” Everyone cheered for the now engaged couple of their group. Yoshiko’s form began to falter as she realized everything she just done and locked in place. Her face became red and she sucked in her lips.

“Yocchan?”

“I-I’m okay. I-I really did it huh?”

“Yeah, you did.”

“W-well, of course. I’m..amazing afterall.”

“So when’s the wedding you two?”

“Huh?”

“When are you having the wedding?”

“Oh, I kind of figured, we finish school first. And then, and then, we decide from there?” Yoshiko looked at Riko, looking for help.

“Yes, we’ll graduate and then we’ll figure out our wedding plans.”

“Of course, school first then marriage. Good call you two… Ahem, Kanan, over here for a sec.” Dia pulled Kanan to the side and Mari followed leaving the others to continue talking.

“What is it?”

“While we’re on the matter,  I do hope you don’t decided to disappear for a year and come back just to make your proposal more dramatic.”

“What? Why would I do something like that?”

“Kanan, unlike kind old Rikocchi, if you do that, I’ll send every hunter available to find you and drag you back, do you understand?”

“But I won’t. Wh-why are you two ganging up on me like this?”


	58. Epilogue

Their time at Uranohoshi came to an end as everyone graduated. Yoshiko might not have been head of class in academics, but she was the best in terms of on the field stuff. Along with that, Guilty Kiss won the cup 3 times within the five years they studied at Uranohoshi. Mari even put in a request to have a Yoshiko statue made in the Guilty Kiss courtyard. Nico rejected the request and suggested that the statue be one of her. Nozomi rejected the rejection and put in the request to Tsubasa and it was approved. A modest statue was made of Yoshiko as she was the hero who saved the school from the now famous Battle of Uranohoshi.

The battle became world news as other magic schools learned about all the happenings. The Council of course was infuriated at what Tsubasa has been doing under their nose and demanded her to publicly apologize for her incompetence and step down as Headmistress. That was met with protest from fellow Headmistresses and the Council decided to drop the matter if Tsubasa agrees to report anything that happens to her school, to which she did. She didn’t do it though, even with some watchwomen sent by the Council.

During the year Yoshiko was away, Yoshiko and her mom made a stand against the council and showed all their reports and findings with dark magic. They were all very well made and pointed to a breakthrough that could progress the magic society. Of course the council told them that they will review it before making a decision. In reality, the reports were canned and the council demanded for better evidence. Slightly irritated, Yoshiko and her mom went out and did more work while recruiting others to their cause.

Meanwhile, several attacks hit different magic schools and institutions from dark witches. Most of them were prepared, thanks to Tsubasa’s letter after the Battle of Uranohoshi telling them to make preparations should something like a school wide attack would occur. There were still losses, but they were minimized. The attacks were the death knell to the current Council members and Defense Institute executives. A massive protest erupted and the old Councilwomen and Defense Institute execs were all ousted of their positions.

Tsubasa was chosen to head the council, but she turned down the offer saying that it would be too much work. So a new candidate was chosen. One who had a more open view on the situation. She decided to call back Yoshiko and her mom and proposed an idea to where they should gather a group of researchers and the Council will provide funding to establish a new division within the Institute that’s made specifically for the study of and defense against dark magic. She’s also requested that Yoshiko’s mom be the head of the division and Yoshiko be the vice. Yoshiko declined saying that she would prefer to be a special researcher for reasons she didn’t disclose. The request was granted and Yoshiko had the title of special researcher once she graduates. 

The construction for the new building for the dark magic division was underway during Yoshiko’s and Riko’s 3rd year. A requirement for all magic schools in Japan was established in that all school must have a minimum of three teachers to study and train against dark magic. For Uranohoshi, Umi, Eli, and Nozomi were chosen to be the three. The three would also be required to be on call should a large scale attack happen. If it weren't for the new Council, then Yoshiko would probably miss this school year too. Thankfully her mom and her had copies of their research and with their findings, it was enough for Yoshiko's mom to handle the rest on her own.

In their 4th year, the new facility was fully up and running with a full staff. The main priority for their official first year of operations was to get everyone within the staff up to speed with how to control dark magic if they haven’t and how to combat it. While those that made it pass a certain stage were sent to research on how to properly use dark magic for the good of society. Once the staff was up to stuff, they began taking in candidates who showed that they had the potential to control dark magic. All measures were taken to ensure their safety.

By the time their final year ended, some advancement has been made regarding dark magic. Energy efficiency and power was improved with dark magic giving a boost to conductors and the like. It made things easier for people to communicate with spirits and the dead. There was some minor medical use. Restraining criminals was made easier with quicker movements by the officers. Even reading a person’s thoughts was made possible for quicker interrogations. Of course there were limits placed on all the uses to keep it from harming the users and others. But the progress was there.

Still, with the progress, there were still a number of witches around the world that wants more out of dark magic and have committed crimes to get their ways. With the new Defense Institute, that problem was dealt with quicker. Numbers fluctuated in terms of crime. Having witches train to control it was good but it also lead to witches using the control to conduct illegal activities with their new found powers while some lost control and turned evil. The Institute can keep track of those witches since they are required to be registered into the system if they're becoming part of the Dark Magic Division. Remnants of the dark army who shared Agrius’ ideals made attacks every now and then but with minimal results to the point they just stopped. While other dark witch groups slowed down and planned much more carefully their attacks knowing it wasn’t like before when nobody was trained to combat dark magic.

Speaking of Agrius, Alise and Manah were imprisoned for life after the Battle of Uranohoshi. They were to be watch carefully and were sent to the lower levels for the most dangerous witches. Somehow Alise managed to convince the prison to get her and Manah to room together. Manah was not enthusiastic about it with Alise pestering her all the time. The guards didn’t seem to care and let the two argue as long as they want. What was most interesting was that the two were on very good behavior and did everything that was asked of them. That was until 3 years after their imprisonment when they disappeared from their cell without a trace.

A hunt was opened to get the two, but there was nothing that the Institute could do to locate them. Not even some from the Dark Magic division was able to track them down. The hunt would eventually be called off with wanted posters being posted to get information that would lead to their arrest. There were two accounts that came up regarding their whereabouts. One account said that two woman that matched the descriptions, were seen heading to the north and was on a pathway up a mountain to a town there. Then the person saw the two figures just fade and disappear. The second account said they saw two similar looking figures get on a boat and headed towards Tsushima Island. The boat was in the water one minute then it was gone the next. Officers were sent to both locations and searched around for a few days and they found nothing. How they escaped and how they just fell off the map was still questioned to this day.

Yoshiko and Riko got married some months after graduating.  They moved to a nice two-story house in Tokyo, about 30 minutes away from the research building Yoshiko works at. Yoshiko received numerous offers to be a teacher at different magic schools, but turned them all down. Citing that her researcher job was all she really needed and that it let her be close to and spend time with Riko more. Riko became a music instructor and helped composed songs for Saint Snow on the side. She was also constantly reminded by Saint Snow that they have an open invitation for her to be their full-time composer and that the Kurosawa’s should join them on stage. The latter, Dia and Ruby keep rejecting.

One thing Riko made sure of was to visit Yoshiko at work to make sure she’s eating and not slacking off. Hugin became Riko's source of knowing if Yoshiko is doing okay. Yoshiko taught Riko how to communicate with Hugin and now Riko can ask Hugin about Yoshiko's condition at work. She also made sure Yoshiko honored what she said in the goodbye letter. So throughout their time at Uranohoshi and to their wedding, Riko made Yoshiko go where ever she wanted. If Yoshiko complained then Riko brought up the letter. Mari was convinced Riko turned to the dark side with how she dragged Yoshiko around though that was Yoshiko’s fault from the start.

“Yocchan! Are you done yet? We need to go soon.”

“That’s rich coming from someone who’s still doing their makeup.”

“Stop writing that report, put on your tie, and get ready!”

“Do you want that vacation? If I finish this soon, then we can go on a long vacation together.”

“Yoshiko Tsushima!”

“Fine! I’ll put on the stupid tie. Grr..freaking…dumb…tie”

“Good, you’re ready.”

“Yep.”

“Where are you planning on taking me for our trip?”

“Hmmm, since you didn’t let me finish my report, I’ll keep it secret until then.”

“That’s not fair!”

“You rushed me. Besides, it’ll be a nice surprise when I tell you.”

“Okay~, then my expectations will be high.”

“Then I expect a really nice reward. On the first night if possible.”

“We’ll see~.”

“Is there anything else we need?”

“Oh, the gifts our mom’s bought before they left for their vacation. Where do you think they went this time?”

“Who knows. They’ll send us a greeting card like usual in some embarrassing pose.”

“True. Anyways, I’m surprised that Kanan-chan asked you for advice.”

“Hey, she didn’t expect me to propose before she did, so I’m the senior in that regard. It was tough figuring things out since she has Dia and Mari.”

“You didn’t tell her to disappear for a year then come back and propose all dramatic like, did you?”

“…..”

“Yoshiko!”

“Joke. It’s joke.”

“I need to make sure you aren’t hanging out with Mari-chan too much.”

“Whatever, I just told her to find her natural element and propose that way. Beach, aquarium, or wherever there was water.”

“Sounds just like her. Still, Mari-chan is ridiculous with where she has the wedding held.”

“I’m sure it’ll be more ridiculous when we arrive. A whole castle just for a wedding, that woman is something else.”

“So, should I drive?”

“Go ahead, just don’t take forever getting there. Dia will be mad if we’re not there on time for her wedding.”

“Haha, very funny.”

“Seems like our seniors just arrived at the location.”

“You sent Hugin there?”

“Yep, she’s so convenient to have.”

“Alright, buckle up, I’m about to show you my driving skills.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, its finally finished. I honestly didn't think it would go this far with how I had it initially outlined. Thank you all for sticking with this long read.
> 
> I'm gonna take a break, but I already have an idea for my next one. A medieval kind of setting for the girls. Might have some elements of this and Aqours Online mixed in. Of course, its still in planning so I don't know if it will actually happen. If it does happen, it won't be as long as this. I'd probably burn out if it does. So I'll keep it a reasonable length.


End file.
